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CLEMENT'S DRAMATIC HR GIVES CU FIRST WVIAC WIN SINCE '07

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There were a few “firsts” in Concord's Softball doubleheader against Glenville State Thursday afternoon.

A beautiful spring day – the first such day in Athens after a long winter – allowed the Lady Lions to play their first home games of the 2010 season. And, thanks to the heroics of a first-year player, Concord won a West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game for the first time in nearly three years.

Freshman Sam Clement's no-doubt, two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the 7th inning lifted the Lady Lions to a 4-3 win over the Pioneers in the first game of the doubleheader. 

The victory snapped Concord's 51-game WVIAC losing streak and was CU's first conference victory since a 10-6 win over Ohio Valley on April 21, 2007. 

Glenville State took Thursday's second game, 4-2.

Early in the first game, it looked like Concord's WVIAC futility would continue. The Lady Pioneers reached CU starting pitcher Tamara Smith for three runs and four hits in the top of the 1st inning, including a two-run double by Meagan James and an RBI single from Katelyn Porter. 


But Smith settled down to allow just three more hits the rest of the game. That gave Concord's offense time to chip away at the deficit. 



The Lady Lions scored once in the bottom of the 2nd, with Kaylyn Klatt scoring on Alex Brown's RBI single. 

Concord added another run in the 4th – Stephanie Harper led off with a double, advanced to third on wild third-strike pitch to Brooke Bowling, then scored on another wild pitch. 

In the bottom of the 7th, Emily Gallagher reached GSC reliever Mandy Parkulo for a one-out single. Parkulo struck out Smith, then worked a 2-2 count on Clement, who rocketed the fifth pitch of the at-bat over the fence in left-center for the dramatic 4-3 victory.
(The pitch Clement hit is pictured above.)

Smith went the distance in the circle, giving up seven hits with a walk and a strikeout, while inducing nine groundball outs. 

In the second game, Glenville State scored once each in the top of the 1st, but Concord missed a golden opportunity in the bottom of the inning. Smith and Clement led off with back-to-back singles, but Lady Pioneers starter Jessica Fedor retired the next three CU batters to end the threat. 

GSC scored another run in the top of the 4th, only to see Concord answer with a solo home run from Bowling in the bottom of the inning. 

With one out in the bottom of the 7th, the Gallagher-Clement combination struck again. The former reached on Fedor error, and the latter drove her home with a triple to deep left-center. That pulled Concord within 4-2, but Fedor recovered to close out the inning and the game.

Clement ended the day 4-7, with a home run, a triple, three RBIs and two stolen bases. 




Thursday's split left Concord's record at 9-10, 1-3 WVIAC. Glenville State left Athens at 12-14, 1-1.

The Lady Lions next play on Saturday, March 20th, in a non-conference doubleheader at Asbury College. The twinbill in Wilmore, KY, begins at 3:00 pm EST.

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