BAD TIMING

WELL-TIMED HITTING LEADS BOBCATS PAST CU

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An often overlooked aspect of baseball is the importance of the two-out base hit. Particularly when there are runners on base.

West Virginia Wesleyan came through in that category, allowing them to break open a close game and secure a 7-3 win over Concord in the opener of a three-game series Saturday afternoon at Anderson Field.

The Mountain Lions took a 3-1 lead after three innings. The visiting Bobcats scored once in the 6th and twice more in the 7th to go ahead 4-3.

Then came their timely two-out hits.

In the 8th, Zach Miller's two-out single scored Robert Stephens to make the score 5-3.

In the top of the 9th, Gene Franks delivered the clinching two-out hit – a two-run home run to left center that closed out the scoring and put the game away.

Concord had taken the day's first lead in the bottom of the 2nd, rallying with two outs. Randy Beard doubled and stole third, and Raphael Sanchez singled to left to drive him home. Sanchez stole second – his team-leading eighth steal of the season – and came in to score on Ian Humphrey's (above right) single to left.

WVWC took advantage of two CU errors and a hit batsman to score an unearned run in the 3rd, but the Mountain Lions answered in the bottom of the inning.
With one out and Josh Wenger on first, Kyle Webb and Bret Blevins hit back-to-back singles, scoring Wenger and lifting Concord to a 3-1 lead.

Cy Mozingo's sacrifice fly in the top of the 6th made the score 3-2. A two-out Concord error in the 7th opened the door for two more WVWC runs that put the Bobcats ahead 4-3.

Freshman Ryan Weatherholtz (left) turned in another strong performance as CU's starting pitcher, taking the tough-luck loss despite giving up just six hits and one walk in 7 2/3 innings. He allowed five runs, but only two were earned.

WVWC's Nathan Gainer got the win with 3 2/3 innings of hitless relief. He walked two and struck out five.

Webb paced the Concord offense by going 2-5.


BOXSCORE / PLAY-BY-PLAY


Up next for Concord is a seven-inning doubleheader against the Bobcats at 1:00 pm tomorrow at Anderson Field. Admission is free.


_{(Statistics provided by Concord SID GA Brandon Besl)}

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