PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- The University of Pikeville baseball team is now 6-2 in its last eight games after splitting a Tuesday doubleheader against West Virginia Tech. The Golden Bears used a big, early lead to hold on 9-7 in game one before losing to the Bears 7-1 in game two.

Max Hall didn't give Tech a chance to completing the sweep as he picked up the complete-game win on the mound, allowing just one run on five hits with three strikeouts. Hall threw just 77 pitches in the win, averaging an incredible 11 pitches per inning.

Matt Peterson and Jacob Alverado backed him up at the plate at the tallied two hits each and both had doubles. In the loss, it was Nelson Muniz who stood out as he drove in four runs on two hits. Muniz, Alec Barba and Travis Haen all roped doubles in the loss.

West Va. Tech 9, UPIKE 7

Tech (4-13) stepped on the gas right away, scoring four runs in the first inning and five more in the second to lead 9-1. While the Golden Bears wouldn't score again, it was still a big enough cushion to hold off a UPIKE rally.

Errors plagued UPIKE (11-8) in the early stages as it combined for three over the first two innings. But the comeback effort started in the third when Peterson hit an RBI single and Muniz hustled home on a wild pitch.

The effort continued in the fourth inning with the Bears scoring three runs on five hits, including a two-run double by Muniz, and again with a single run in the fifth on a hard hit by Muniz that was bobbled in the infield.

It was now just a 9-7 lead for Tech heading into the sixth inning, but reliever Garrison Vandeventer kept the Bears' bats at bay. He pitched effectively enough to grab the win in 3 2/3 innings, allowing just one run on one hit.

UPIKE went three up, three down in the sixth, followed by Haen, who finished 3-for-3 at the dish, being hit by a pitch in the seventh to be the last baserunner in the game.

Starter Ean Walda took the loss after allowing five runs on two hits and three walks in an inning of work.  

UPIKE 7, West Va. Tech 1

With Hall dealing, leading in hits 10-5 and limiting errors to just one, game two was just what the Bears needed to bounce back.

Tech didn't score until the seventh inning when it strung together three hits, allowing Kurt Latocha's fly ball to center to be deep enough to bring home the lone run. Before that it was all UPIKE.

It took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on Peterson's RBI double and a bases-loaded walk by starter Matt Silverstein who took the loss after allowing two runs on three hits with three walks over the first three innings.

After two empty frames, UPIKE made it 3-0 in the fourth on a sac fly by Luke Hartlage before adding four runs on six hits and an error in the sixth inning. The Golden Bears used two pitchers in the sixth as the first run scored on Alverado's double and another on a wild throw by the catcher trying to throw out Alverado from stealing third.

RBI singles by Muniz and Jay Vincent wrapped up the scoring.

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It's a quick turnaround for the Bears as they host Johnson (Tenn.) for a 1 p.m. ET doubleheader on Wednesday.

-UPIKE-