Despite jumping out to a 3-0 lead after an inning, West Virginia State fell to Ohio Valley 8-6 in college baseball Wednesday in Vienna.
Down 5-3, Ohio Valley (10-13) scored three runs in the sixth inning and two in the seventh. Jake Carr drove in a run on a single to right and Spencer Miller singled to right center to send more home. In the seventh, Carr singled in a run and scored on a Justin Gil single.
Designated hitter Matthew Washington hit a two-run homer for the Yellow Jackets (9-13) in the first inning. Trevor Sampson went 2 for 3 with a RBI and Jalen Benjamin added two hits and a RBI.
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WVU TECH BASEBALL: The Golden Bears dropped a doubleheader to Bluefield (Va.) College, losing 8-2 and 6-2 Wednesday at Linda K. Epling Stadium in Beckley.
Bluefield (19-12) broke open a close first game with six runs in the sixth inning. The big blast was a three-run home run by left fielder Erik Williams. For the Golden Bears (16-17), Tannner Levine went 3 for 3 and Doug Prather added two hits.
In the second game, Bluefield scored three in the second inning to take a 4-0 lead, getting RBIs from Jose Perez, Bobby Mena and Erik Williams. Tanner Levine had another three hits and Brian Schack went 2 for 3 for the Golden Bears.
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MARSHALL SWIMMING: Marshall's Sirena Rowe was named Conference USA Freshman Swimmer of the Year Wednesday to become the first Herd swimmer to earn a C-USA award since the school joined the league.
Rowe set individual school records this season in the 50 freestyle (22.08), 100 freestyle (49.53) and 100 backstroke (53.67). She also competed as a member of the 200 freestyle relay (1:30.12), 400 freestyle relay (3:21.41) and 200 medley relay (1:39.52) that set school records. Rowe notched the highest NCAA ranking of any C-USA swimmer this season as was ranked No. 15 in the 50 backstroke.
She helped the Herd finish third at the C-USA meet with four second-place finishes and one third-place finish. Rowe earned a trip to the NCAA championships by setting a conference record of 22.08 in the 50-yard freestyle in a time trial. Her qualifying time in the 50 freestyle ranked 24th among all national leaders.
Rowe became the first Marshall swimmer to win a conference award since 2006, when Milla Kuurto was named Swimmer of the Year in the Mid-American Conference. She also was the first Herd swimmer to be invited to the NCAA championships since Kuurto in 2005.
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TRACK AND FIELD CLUB: The Capital City Striders track and field club will conduct sign-ups and practice at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Martin Luther King Center and at 6 p.m. Monday at University of Charleston Stadium. For more information, contact Paul Gilmer at 389-1982 or at pjgilmer@aol.com.