WEST LIBERTY, West Virginia- As the seasons end is getting closer, the Salem Tigers baseball team continued the road stretch. Salem traveled to the northern panhandle for a four-game series against the West Liberty Hilltoppers across Friday and Saturday. Salem was able to take a game on each day with the series ending in a 2-2 split.

West Liberty 1, Salem 0
In game 1, the Tigers ace Sam Schmitt got the start on the mound. In the first few innings the bats came out cold as the game was still scoreless after the first 4 innings. West Liberty was finally able to get the first run of the game in the bottom of the 5^th with a rbi single. The Hilltoppers were able to get 4 hits but only came away with 1 run. Salem was unable to answer back in the 6^th inning. As we headed into the 7^th, Salem had one more chance to tie the game up. Alex Harper and Jose Lojo both were able to get on base with a single to ger Harper in scoring position. Unfortunately, the Tigers couldn't knock anyone in as West Liberty secured the 1-0 victory in the pitchers dual.

Salem 17, West Liberty 4
In game 2, Jackson Thoma started at pitcher for Salem. The Tigers were able to start out with a nice 1^st inning with Reese Rinna hitting a sac fly knocking in Jose Lojo, followed up by a Aaron Forbes rbi double to score Aidan McMurdo. Salem went into the 2^nd inning with a 2-1 lead. The Tigers caught fire in the 2^nd when Lojo singled to score Luis Angarita. Moments later, McMurdo hit a single to score Lojo and Rose. Salem continued the momentum in the 3^rd to break the game open with hits by McMurdo and Rose. After 3 innings, Salem now held a commanding 9-1 lead. West Liberty did answer back in the 4^th with a solo shot to left field. The Tigers built on a massive day in the 5^th after a massive 3 run homer by Aaron Forbes. In the 6^th, the Tigers were able to capitalize on a lot of mistakes by the Hilltoppers. Salem now had a massive 17-2 lead and were able to cruise to a 17-4 victory in game 2. Thoma was credited with the win and improved to 3-3 on the season.

Salem 8, West Liberty 4
For game 3, Conor Thiele looked to keep his undefeated streak alive on the mound for the Tigers. Max Atkinson and Hunter Rose were able to get the Tigers off to a good start in the 2^nd inning grabbing an early 3-0 lead. Forbes continued where he left off yesterday in the 3^rd with a rbi double to score McMurdo. Salem had a 4-0 lead, but that wouldn't last long when the Hilltoppers hit a 3-run shot to cut the deficit. McMurdo singled in the 4^th to score 2 more runs for the Tigers. After 4 innings, Salem led 6-3. The Hilltoppers did answer back in the 5^th to cut the deficit to 6-4. However, Lojo and McMurdo were able to knock in some insurance runs in the top of the 6^th. Thiele earned his 6^th victory on the season as Salem prevailed 8-4. Richie Preston secured his 3^rd save on the season.

West Liberty 12, Salem 2
In game 4, Eric Kovach started at pitcher for Salem. West Liberty got on the board first after a error by Salem led to 2 runs. In the 3^rd, McMurdo continued his good weekend with a 2 rbi single to score Rose and Castro. However, the Hilltopper bats got hot across the next few innings. West Liberty now led 5-2 after 4 innings. In the 5^th, the Hilltoppers broke the game open with back-to-back homers to extend their lead to 12-2. The Salem bats were unable to get going and West Liberty cruised to the 12-2 victory.

After the series split, the Tigers are now 20-19 as the season is winding down. The Tigers will now have some time off before they return home next weekend to host the Frostburg State Bobcats.