NUTTER FORT, West Virginia - After a successful road trip to West Liberty last weekend the Tigers returned home to host the Frostburg State Bobcats as the regular season begins to wind to a close.

SATURDAY

Game One

Salem kicked off their four-game series against the Bobcats at 1:00 on Saturday afternoon by sending out Frankie Gulko to pitch for the Tigers. Frostburg was on Gulko early with a run scored in the first frame to grab an early lead. Frostburg continued to grow their lead with a two-run shot in the second inning followed by another run tacked on in the third to make it 4-0 Bobcats and forced Gulko to pass the baton over to Zack Kendall. The Tigers cut Frostburgs lead in half with a two-run dinger from Mackenzie Wainwright in the bottom of the third that scored Brett Ehr and put the Tigers within striking distance. Frostburg's lineup really found its groove in the fourth, putting up three more runs to extend their lead to five in the game's back half. Salem got another run back in the bottom half of the inning with a groundout from Jacob Hurley that scored Tyler Shinn, but as the game progressed the Bobcats continued to have the long ball working for them. Frostburg put two more home runs on the board before the game was over, both two-run bombs to put the run total at eleven for Frostburg. Shinn roped a double in the fifth that scored Wainwright and Ehr to give Salem five runs on the day, but the Tiger's offense could not produce enough to get them over the top. The Tigers brought in Ben Sitarenios to pitch the seventh, and he delivered a scoreless frame, but the Tigers could not overcome the deficit and dropped game one 5-11.

Game Two

This time around Salem looked to starter Sam Schmitt to work through a Bobcat lineup that had already proved trouble for the Tigers today. Schmitt gave up a solo shot to Frostburg in game two's opening frame but was able to limit the damage to just one run before getting out of the inning. After that initial run, both offenses went cold with neither team scoring until the fifth inning when Frostburg ripped their third homer of the afternoon, this one a two-run shot to make it 3-0. The Tigers tacked on their first run of the game in the bottom half of the fifth frame when Alex Harper collected an RBI off a double that scored Nathan Kuhn. Brett Ehr followed that up with a plate appearance that ended in a ground-rule double which scored Harper and brought the Tigers within one. Salem took their first lead of the series in the bottom of the sixth when Tyler Shinn sent one out of play to score himself along with Mackenzie Wainwright and make it 4-3. Schmitt remained in to pitch the complete game and delivered a scoreless top of the seventh to give Salem the win and split the series 1-1.

SUNDAY

Game Three

With the series split coming into Sunday, Salem looked to take an early advantage to guarantee a tie worst case scenario. This time around it was Travis Lavendier who was given the start for the Tigers. Lavendier gave Salem a scoreless frame to kick things off before turning things over to an offense that was looking to finally break one open against the Bobcats. The Tiger's struggles at the plate began early in this one. Salem was able to get bat on the ball, but they struggled to produce positive outcomes. Frostburg struck first with a sac fly in the second to score their first run of the afternoon. Lavendier remained in the game into the fourth and the second time through the order it seemed the Bobcats had begun to pick up on what he liked to throw. Frostburg put up a three spot in the fourth to make it 4-0 Bobcats. After pitching 4 ⅓ Salem turned things over to Conor Thiele. Thiele provided the Tigers with a scoreless remainder of the fifth but allowed three more Frostburg runs to cross home in the sixth to make it 7-0. Down big going into the final inning of game one Salem turned to Tommy Downey to get the final three outs the Tigers needed before giving themselves a chance to win in walk-off fashion. Downey delivered a scoreless frame for the Tigers to keep the deficit where it was, but unfortunately, Salem was unable to get any runners across in this one, ending in a 7-0 loss which meant the Tigers needed to win game four to split the series.

Game Four

For the final game of this home series, Salem handed the ball over to Jaryd Lund with hopes of splitting the series. The Bobcats put two up on Lund in the first inning, but Lund was able to stop them there before things could get out of hand. After a quiet second inning from both squads, the Bobcats got the bats hot once again in the third, putting up a four-spot to make it 6-0 Bobcats. Salem scored their first run of the afternoon in the bottom of the fifth when Mackenzie Wainwright hit a sac fly into right field that scored Brett Ehr. Up next was Tyler Shinn and he got Salem back into the game with one swing of the bat, delivering a three-run blast to make it 6-4 Bobcats and put Salem into striking distance. Lund's day was done after the fifth and Salem brought in reliever Richie Preston to try and pitch the Tiger's third straight scoreless frame. Preston delivered, but Salem was unable to get any more runners across in the sixth, keeping the score at 6-4 with six outs remaining in the series. After Preston's inning of work, Salem passed the ball over to closer Jhayden Raineri to try and keep Salem's hopes of winning alive. Raineri delivered another scoreless frame for the Tigers to give them a chance to win in walk-off fashion. Aidan McMurdo stepped up to the plate with two runners on and the Tigers down to their final out. McMurdo delivered a double down the left field line to score Hunter Rose and Alex Harper to tie the ball game and put McMurdo in scoring position with Luis Angarita up to bat. Angarita sent the first pitch he saw back up the middle for a well-struck single that sent McMurdo rounding third and headed for home where he would beat the throw and win it for the Tigers with a walk-off single to give Salem a 7-6 victory and series split.

Salem will be back in action on their home field on Tuesday, April 23rd at 4:00 PM where they will host Seton Hill University for a one-game matchup.