NILES, Ohio - Jacob Stallings and Jodaneli Carvajal each produced two hits and two runs batted in, and the State College Spikes used a late surge to outlast the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in an 8-6 victory at Eastwood Field on Wednesday night.
State College (15-15) trailed, 6-5, entering the eighth inning, but plated three runs in the frame to take the win. Yhonathan Barrios led off the frame with a ground-rule double, and after a single by Carvajal, scored on Rodarrick Jones's RBI groundout to tie the game. Alex Fuselier then singled and Barrett Barnes followed with a double to score two more runs and give the Spikes a lead they would not relinquish.
Mahoning Valley (15-15) took the initial lead in the back-and-forth game when Joey Wendle homered to right-center field off of Spikes starter Luis Heredia in the first inning to make it 1-0. State College responded with a pair of runs in the second inning when Jared Lakind produced a sacrifice fly and Carvajal singled in another run.
The Scrappers would go on to tie the game in the bottom half of the second when Hunter Jones knocked in Jeremy Lucas with an RBI single. In the fourth, though, State College regained the lead on Carvajal's sacrifice fly. The Spikes then extended their lead when Stallings drove in two runs with a single in the fifth, making the score 5-2.
However, Mahoning Valley scratched a run across in the fifth inning to draw within two, then delivered three runs in the sixth on Erik Gonzalez's two-run double, an error and a single by Jones to set up the Spikes' comeback in the eighth.
Barnes joined Stallings and Carvajal with multiple hits and added two stolen bases as well to bump his season total to a team-leading nine.
Heredia did not receive a decision after allowing three runs, all earned, on six hits and a walk. The 17-year-old right-hander also struck out three over his five innings of work. The first-inning home run by Wendle was the first long ball off of Heredia this season.
Lucas went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored for the Scrappers, while Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with a pair of two-base hits and another two runs scored.
The win snapped a season-long four-game losing streak for the Spikes, and marked the first time this season that both the Spikes and their opponents scored at least six runs.
