* Tournament Central
* Tournament Statistics
* Photo Gallery
* Postgame Interview: Matt McCarty
* Postgame Interview: JJ Sarty
 
BECKLEY, W.Va. – Shepherd claimed the MEC Baseball Championship crown on Sunday in Epling Stadium with a 13-6 win over the University of Charleston. The Rams claimed the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

After losing the opening game of the MEC Baseball Tournament, the Golden Eagles battled back to win four games before falling to the Rams in the "if-necessary" game. UC was an 18-2 winner over West Virginia Wesleyan on Sunday morning to advance to the championship series.  
  
Charleston 18, West Virginia Wesleyan 2 | Final Stats
The University of Charleston advanced to the championship game of the MEC Tournament with a dominant 18-2 win over West Virginia Wesleyan on Sunday morning.

The Golden Eagles pounded out 21 runs to score their 18 runs. UC scored three in the first, and then broke the game open with seven more in the fourth inning. After being held scoreless in the sixth, UC scored two in the seventh, one in the eight and two more in the ninth.

Lee Carneal went 3-for-4 with six RBI and four RBI. Steven Davis belted two home runs in the game and also drove in six. Colby Johnson, Nick Wilson and Brice Arrington each had three hits. 

All of the offense did not overshadow the performance on the mound from Jonathan Carr, who went all nine innings giving up two runs on four hits with four strikeouts and three walks.

Charleston 13, Shepherd 11 | Final Stats
Charleston forced a second game for the MEC Championship by downing Shepherd, 13-11. The Golden Eagles built a 10-3 lead after four innings, and held off a late Shepherd comeback for the win. 

Down 1-0, Charleston scored four runs in the top of the third to take back the lead. Shepherd pulled one back in the bottom half of the inning, but UC pushed across six in the top of the fourth to take control of the game. Nick Wilson smacked a three-run home run to help spark the inning.

Shepherd slowly chipped away but could not get a big inning going until the bottom of the ninth. Charleston padded its lead to 13-6 with two more in the top of the inning, but Shepherd responded in its final at-bat. Daniel Heliene lined a two-run single and Brandon Kirk added a two-run home run to make it 13-10. Jacob Carney hit an RBI single to help bring the winning run to the plate. 

UC brought Levi Nash on to the mound, and Nash promptly got the final two outs to secure the save.

Carneal added three more hits in this game, as did Gianfranco Morello. Brandon Harris got credit for the win on the mound for UC pitching five innings and giving up six runs on nine hits. 

Heliene led SU with two hits and three RBI. Kirk and Dalton Haymaker each had a pair of RBI.

Shepherd 13, Charleston 6 | Final Stats
A six-run fifth inning for Shepherd proved to be the difference as the Rams captured the 2017 Mountain East Conference championship.

MEC Tournament MVP JJ Sarty went 3-for-6 with a double, home run and five RBI in the game. Daniele Heleine was 3-for-5 with a homer, a double and three RBI to help pace the Shepherd offense. Jacob Carney and Ron Farley had three hits apiece. 

Ryan Potts was excellent in relief pitching the final 5.0 innings and giving up just one hit to pick up the win. 

Lee Carneal led UC going 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI. Nick Wilson, Colby Johnson and Brice Arrington each had two hits.

Trailing 3-1, the Golden Eagles pulled together a five-run fourth thanks to RBI singles from Johnson and Carneal, along with Wilson’s three-run double.

The Rams regrouped to score six runs in the top of the fifth. Sarty laced a two-run double to left and later scored on a wild pitch before Heleine’s towering three-run blast pushed Shepherd ahead 9-6.

Sarty hit a two-run home run in the sixth while Ron Farley hit an RBI triple in the eighth and later scored on a wild pitch to leave Charleston trailing 13-6. 

Potts went three-up and three-down in the seventh, eight and ninth to secure the win for the Rams.
  
MEC Baseball All-Tournament Team
Austin Norman (Fairmont State)
Michael Stout (Fairmont State)
Erin Forbrick (West Virginia Wesleyan)
Chris Metrick (West Virginia Wesleyan)
Lee Carneal (Charleston)
Steven Davis (Charleston)
Brandon Harris (Charleston)
Nick Wilson (Charleston)
Ryan Potts (Shepherd)
Daniel Heleine (Shepherd)
Ron Farley (Shepherd)
Brenton Doyle (Shepherd)
MVP: JJ Sarty (Shepherd)