Marvel's Outing, Baur's Grand Slam Lead Win

AUBURN, N.Y. - Black Bears' starter RHP James Marvel kept the Doubledays' offense off-balance and 1B Albert Baur blasted a grand slam in the sixth inning to spark West Virginia's 6-2 win over Auburn on Thursday night from Falcon Park. Marvel improved to 5-6, allowing just two earned runs through six innings on six hits with two strikeouts.

The Doubledays jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on an RBI single off the bat of C Tres Barrera. But, West Virginia would respond in the next frame as RF Kevin Krause, who doubled, came in to score on C Arden Pabst's single.

One inning later, the Black Bears would add another run as 3B Will Craig lined an RBI single to left field, putting West Virginia ahead, 2-1. In the bottom of the fourth, though, Auburn answered as RF Juan Soto hit an RBI single to even the score, 2-2.

In the sixth inning, West Virginia would break the tie. LF Ty Moore singled before Craig reached on an Auburn error. A walk to Krause loaded the bases to set the stage for Baur's grand slam over the right field wall. Black Bears' relievers RHP Adrian Grullon, RHP Dylan Prohoroff and RHP Luis Paula all threw scoreless innings to shut down the Doubledays for the remainder of the game.

Craig and Baur paced the offense with two hits each as the Black Bears outhit the Doubledays, 8-7. For Auburn, Soto went 2-for-4 with an RBI while starter LHP McKenzie Mills dropped to 4-5, surrendering four earned runs on five hits over 5.1 innings.

The Black Bears (35-37) and Doubledays (28-42) will play the second game of the series tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m. from Falcon Park. Fans can listen to Darren Zaslau who has the call on www.westvirginiablackbears.com, the TuneIn Radio app and on the MetroNews Radio Network. For tickets, visit www.westvirginiablackbears.com or call 304-293-7910.

Craig Great At The Plate

After going 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI in tonight's 6-2 over Auburn, Black Bears' 3B Will Craig is batting .485 (16-for-33) over his past 10 games. Currently, the first round draft pick in 2016 is hitting .286 in 59 games. His .418 on-base percentage ranks second-best in the New York-Penn League.