BlueClaws Miss Sweep; Fall 4-1 to West Virginia on Sunday

LAKEWOOD, NJ - Bret Helton gave up one run over 6.2 innings and Casey Hughston went 2-3 with a home run as West Virginia topped the BlueClaws 4-1 on Sunday afternoon at FirstEnergy Park.

The BlueClaws (9-9/38-49) saw their four-game winning streak snapped but still took three of four from West Virginia (7-11/42-45).

The Power opened the scoring in the first inning on an RBI single by Carlos Munoz to take a 1-0 lead. The BlueClaws would tie the game in the bottom of the first on a SAC fly by Wilson Garcia.

Casey Hughston's home run in the third, his fifth of the year, put West Virginia up 2-1 and they added a run in the fifth on an RBI single by Munoz. Lakewood starter Alberto Tirado came out after that single, but Jeff Singer got a double-play to escape further damage.

Helton (4-6) allowed five hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

Tirado allowed three runs, two earned, in 4.1 innings with three walks and five strikeouts. Jeff Singer followed and threw 2.2 scoreless innings in relief and has thrown eight shutout innings since joining the BlueClaws on July 1st.

Lakewood had the lead-off man on in the fourth through the eighth innings but couldn't score off Helton and Julio Vivas, who went 1.1 in relief.

The BlueClaws head to Hickory and open a three-game series against the Crawdads on Tuesday. RHP Seranthony Dominguez (0-1) will start the series opener for the BlueClaws.

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