Oviedo pitches Scrappers to win over West Virginia
Staff report
Granville, w.va.
The Mahoning Valley Scrappers won their third straight after a solid outing by starter Luis Oviedo.
Oviedo (2-0) pitched six innings of two-hit baseball in the Scrappers’ 5-2 win over the West Virginia Black Bears on Thursday.
The 19-year-old righthander allowed one unearned run and struck out 12.
The Scrappers (10-2) jumped on Black Bears starter Aaron Shortridge for a 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning.
Tyler Freeman got the Scrappers on the board with a single up the middle to drive in Tre Gantt. Mitch Reeves followed with a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Jose Fermin. Elvis Perez singled to right field in the next at-bat to score Freeman.
Reeves scored on a groundout by Hosea Nelson in the sixth inning with the bases loaded. Elvis Perez scored two batters later on a wild pitch by West Virginia reliever Ryan Valdes to push the lead to 5-0.
West Virginia’s Luke Mangieri drove in Brett Kinneman on a single to right field to cut the lead to 3-1.
Jhoan Herrera hit a one-out solo home run for the Black Bears (5-8) in the ninth inning.
Manuel Alvarez and Luis Araujo combined to throw three innings of relief or the Scrappers.
Alvarez struck out three in his two innings of work. Araujo allowed one run on three hits and struck out one while pitching the ninth.
Shortridge (0-1) only lasted 22/3 innings. He allowed three runs on four hits and three walks while striking out five.