VIENNA, W.Va. (May 7) – The Salem International University baseball team had its season conclude with a pair of one run losses at Ohio Valley Saturday evening. The Tigers fell 6-5 in game one, before dropping game two 13-12 in 12 innings.
 
Salem International finishes the season at 8-39 overall, 4-20 in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play. Meanwhile, the Fighting Scots improve to 8-16 in the G-MAC, 14-35 overall, and secure a berth to the league tournament this week. The Tigers needed to win both games in order to clinch a postseason bid.
 
The Tigers nearly rallied from a four-run deficit in the final inning of game one, but came up short in their 6-5 loss.
 
Ohio Valley scored the game's first five runs, before the Tigers took advantage of an error to plate two runs in the fifth inning. The Scots answered with a run in the bottom half of the fifth and held Salem International scoreless in the sixth to take a 6-2 lead into the seventh.
 
After the first two Tigers drew walks, freshman Logan Steinle (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) delivered a two-RBI double to pull Salem International within two runs. Junior Matthew Flores (King City, Calif./King City) drove in Steinle with a sacrifice fly to make it a one-run game, but the next two batters were retired to end the contest.
 
The Tigers season came to a close with a wild 13-12 loss in 12 innings in game two.
 
Salem International opened a 5-0 lead in the second inning with the help of four bases-loaded walks and a sacrifice fly. Ohio Valley cut the lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the inning, but runs in the fourth and sixth innings re-extended the lead to five runs, 7-2, heading into the bottom of the sixth inning.
 
The Fighting Scots scored six runs, including a go-ahead two-run home run, to take an 8-7 lead in the sixth, but a sacrifice fly in the eighth by freshman Colten Boudreau (St. Clements, Manitoba/Selkirk) tied the game and sent it into extra innings.
 
The Tigers pushed four runs across in the 10th inning on RBI hits by junior Tanner Helms (Lake Charles, La./Sam Houston) and senior Jeff Apigo (Federal Way, Wash./Todd Beamer).
 
Ohio Valley responded with four runs in the bottom of the 10th inning to tie the game, and plated the winning run in the 12th inning on a bases-loaded hit-batter to seal game four of the series.
 
The Tigers had 19 players enter game two, with Helms and senior Anthony Bariso (Tarpon Springs, Fla./Tarpon Springs) each finishing with three hits in the loss. Helms led the team with three RBI, while Apigo added two hits and two runs driven in.
 
Six pitchers made appearances, with senior starter C.J. Atherton (Newark, Ohio/Mount Vernon) finishing his career strong by holding Ohio Valley to two runs on four hits with a strikeout over five innings of work (81 pitches) to earn a no-decision.