WEATHER STRIKES AGAIN

CU BATTLES THROUGH COLD

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What a difference 48 hours can make.

On Wednesday, Concord's Softball team saw its doubleheader at WVU Tech cut short by a summer-like thunderstorm.

On Friday, the Lady Lions' twinbill against Kentucky State got curtailed by winter-like conditions, complete with snow and a wind-chill inducing breeze.

One thing both those days had in common is that they each included a CU victory.

Concord defeated KSU 14-4 in five innings in the first game Friday.  The second game was canceled.

The visiting Thorobreds jumped out of the gate early, scoring four times in the top of the 1st inning, keyed by Lamara Parker's two-out, two-run double.

Concord replied with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Stephanie Harper drove in Becca Gleason (above left) with a single, and Tamara Smith – CU's starting pitcher -- produced a two-out, two-run single.

The Lady Lions erupted for five runs in the 2nd. With one out, Mariel Wilson walked; one out later, Rachel Mack reached on an infield single. Brooke Bowling launched a three-run home run well beyond the fence in left field that put CU ahead to stay.

Stephanie Harper continued the rally with a double to center, and Katelyn Williams singled. Smith brought them both home with a double to the wall in left, stretching Concord's lead to 8-4.

CU scored four more times in the 3rd. Wilson led off with a walk (right), moved to second on Gleason's sacrifice bunt, and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Mack drew a walk, then purposely got into a rundown; she was called out at second, but not before Wilson crossed home plate to make the score 9-4.

Bowling singled, and Harper reached on an error by SS Shenaaz Burrell. Williams hit a fly ball to the gap in left-center that LF Jasmine Anderson turned into a two-run error that extended the Concord lead.
Smith would add another two-out RBI single and CU was ahead 12-4.

The Lady Lions flashed more two-out magic in the 4th, scoring twice. Gleason singled, Mack reached on an error by 3B Danielle Garay, and Bowling brought them both in with a bloop double to right.

Concord needed to keep the Thorobreds off the board in the 5th to win the game on the ten-run rule, and did -- but not without some drama. KSU got runners at second and third with one out, but Smith (left) induced Parker to fly out to center and struck out Jasmine McQueen to end the game.

Bowling and Smith each went 3-3 with five RBIs to pace the Concord offense. Bowling scored three runs, with Gleason, Mack, Williams, Wilson and Casey Ord each scoring twice.

Smith allowed seven hits, but no walks, in getting the five-inning complete-game pitching victory.


BOXSCORE / PLAY-BY-PLAY


Up next for Concord is a non-conference doubleheader against St. Andrews Presbyterian College on Sunday, March 27. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 pm in Laurinburg, NC.



^{(statistics provided by Concord SID GA Brandon Besl)}

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