Friday Bluefield state faced off against florida memorial . both teams were undefeated , the winner moved on to the championship game the next day .
In the seventh , the Big Blue took advantage of walks by Xavier reliever Anthony Dumas . A throwing error by shortstop Antonio Rodriguez scored Stambaugh and McRee , increasing their lead to 4-0 and adding a much-needed cushion .
It was a gritty win for the West Virginians . They managed to score four runs on only three hits . And set the stage for what was to come two days later .
Brandon came back for the Gold Rush half of the seventh . He hung tough , escaping a bases-loaded jam where a walk forced in an unearned run following an error .
Mendez relieved and closed out the game with two perfect innings .
It was a gritty win for the West Virginians . They managed to score four runs on only three hits . And set the stage for what was to come two days later .
Final score : 4-1 Big Blue . Game Three : Battle of The Unbeatens .
Friday Bluefield State faced off against Florida Memorial . Both teams were undefeated . The winner moved on to the championship game the next day .
Howie Spencer started for the Big Blue and gave up two runs to the Lions in the second before being relieved by Daniel Rayfield .
Bluefield State took the lead with three runs in the third . McRee got things started with an RBI triple . Sizemore followed with a two-out single . Taylor Tibbs ’ single put runners on first and second . Roman Moore followed with a double to bring home Sizemore .
The Lions tied in the fifth on a single , sacrifice bunt and a double off Rayfield .
The Big Blue took control in the bottom of the sixth with four runs . Shane Reviello ’ s tworun double highlighted the inning . They added three more in the seventh to make the rout official .
A two-run double by Brandon , followed by another run-scoring double from Reviello , sent Florida Memorial into a losers bracket same day game against the winner of the Xavier / Florida Memorial game .
Mendez added another solid relief effort , pitching three and a third innings of shutout ball .
Final score : Big Blue 10 , Lions 3 .
And guess who was headed to the Finals of the Black College World Series ? Underdog and undefeated Bluefield State .
Game 4 : Rematch .
The team woke up Saturday morning staring at a rematch with Xavier . The Gold Rush had come from behind Friday evening to eliminate Florida Memorial and earn a shot a redeeming their upset by the Big Blue .
And they did just that .
The Gold Rush got to starter Howie Spencer for two runs in the second and two more in the fourth .
Then they scored five in the fifth off Spencer and lightly-used reliever Jefferson Barmoy . The rout was on .
The Gold Rush piled on with six in the sixth and one more for good measure in the seventh . The ten-run rule was invoked when Shane Reviello flied out and the game was called after seven innings .
SPRING | SUMMER 2021
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