INSTITUTE, W. Va. -- The Lake Erie College baseball team took to the road this weekend for a three-game series against the West Virginia State Yellow Jackets. They would fall in all three contests by a score of 8-4, 6-5, and 3-8.

Game 1 - Feb. 25

Storm pitching would get off to a slow start during the first game of the series. After giving up one hit during a scoreless first inning, they would then surrender four runs over the next two inning, putting them in a quick hole with plenty of time still left to play.

In the top of the fourth, Jacob Mote would hit a double down the line and score during the next at bat when Sebastian Silva singled to first base and advanced home on a throwing error by the Yellow Jackets first baseman. The following inning, Graham Solak would drive in two with a double to center field and trimming the deficit to 5-3.

The Yellow Jackets would earn those two runs back in the bottom half of the inning though and the Storm offense was only able to add on one more run and fall 8-4 in the first game of the series.

Solak would go 2-5 with two RBI's in the game and add a stolen base to his line in the seventh inning.

The Storm would record a season-high 11 hits and raise the confidence in the offense going forward.

Game 2 - Feb. 26

The Lake Erie bats were quieter in this game, only managing to get two hits in their first six innings of work. In the bottom of the fourth inning with the Yellow Jackets up 1-0 and the bases loaded and the count at 2-2, pitcher Robert Helt would deliver a pitch on the edge of the plate. The Storm, thinking it was strike three, would start heading towards to the dugout but the home plate umpire would call it a ball. The call would not go over well with the Lake Erie dugout as head coach Landon Hutchison would recieve a warning. On the next pitch, the batter Connor Fizer would send it over the fence for a grand slam and give the Yellow Jackets a 5-0 lead. After this series of events, Coach Hutchison would be tossed from the game and the Storm would be tasked with trying to mount a large comeback.

The Storm would notch their first run in the top of the sixth by scoring on a balk from the West Virginia State pitcher. With the score now at 5-1, Lake Erie would have one last inning to tie things up. 

Lake Erie would start out the top of the seventh by recording two straight outs. Sebastian Silva would then single and advance the next at-bat on a Sean Moore walk. Ty Sowers would load the bases by drawing a walk himself and the next batter, Zimba Cadiz, would crush a grand slam to left center to tie the game up.

With the momentum having shifted in favor of the Storm, the Yellow Jackets would send up Fizer to start the bottom of the seventh. Fizer would catch lightning again and send Darren Acosta's pitch over the fence in left to walk it off for West Virginia State.

Game 3 - Feb. 26

The Storm would look to finish the road trip with one win in the books after suffering two tough losses already. 

Lake Erie would struggle again, only managing to scrap together a couple of runs and giving up too many big innings on the mound. Jacob Mote would record two of the five hits for the Storm in the game while Israel Espinosa would record the lone RBI for the team.

On the road trip, Sebastian Silva would bat .400 (4-10) while Cadiz' four RBI's would be a team high. Trevor Smentek would also record four more stolen bases after getting three in one game during the last trip.

The Storm will be back on the road, March 3rd-4th for a four game series against Shepherd University before heading to the Carolina's for games against Chowan, UNC Pembroke, and Francis Marion.