BAD CASE OF FIVES

5-RUN RALLIES HELP SHEPHERD SWEEP CU

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In each game of the Concord Baseball team's seven-inning doubleheader against WVIAC foe Shepherd Tuesday afternoon, the Rams scored five runs in an inning.

Each time, it proved decisive, as Shepherd swept CU, 7-4 and 11-10, at Anderson Field.

GAME ONE

BOXSCORE / PLAY-BY-PLAY

The Rams scratched out a single run in the top of the 3rd, and erupted for five runs one inning later. Nash Hutter's three-run home run capped the rally and gave Shepherd a 6-0 lead. They would need the sizable cushion.

The Mountain Lions struck back with three runs in the bottom of the 4th. Josh Wenger led off with a double and Nick Sydnor singled; Raphael Sanchez drove in Wenger with a single to right.
One out later, Zach Cloxton singled to score Sydnor and move Sanchez to third. CU attempted a double steal; Sydnor was thrown out, but Sanchez scored and the Mountain Lions were within 6-3.

Concord scored again in the 5th, on Wenger's RBI grounder, but left two runners on base.

The Rams added an insurance run in the 6th on Morgan Lautz's double, but not that SU starting pitcher Paul Hvozdovic may have needed it. The right-handed freshman curveball artist worked through the middle innings and retired the last seven batters he faced in a complete game victory.

Wenger paced CU's offense with two hits, while Lautz topped the Shepherd ledger by going 4-4 with three RBIs.



GAME TWO

BOXSCORE / PLAY-BY-PLAY

This time, Shepherd's five-run rally came late, and it was heartbreaking.

Concord opened an early 4-1 lead, scoring twice each in the 1st and 3rd innings. Shepherd tallied once in the top of the 4th, but CU replied with three in the bottom of the inning.

Clay Riggleman led off and reached on an error by 3B Aaron Scoville and scored on Jacob Mays' double to right. Mays then stole third, and would score when the throw went awry.

Keith Morrisroe hit a grounder that 2B Aaron Lee misplayed, and hustled to turn the miscue into a two-base error. A wild pitch moved Morrisroe to third, and Sydnor moved the Concord captain across the plate with a solid single to left. Concord's lead stood at 7-2.

The Rams chased Concord starting pitcher Brandon Proctor with four-run rally in the top of the 5th, highlighted by Hutter's bases-loaded triple to left, to move within 7-6.

The Mountain Lions loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the 6th, and wound up scoring three times. Sydnor's sacrifice fly and Bret Blevins' two-out, two-run double brought in the runs, and CU was ahead 10-6 going into the top of the 7th.

Then came the Rams' next decisive five-spot, helped by some Concord blunders -- a wild pitch and an error brought in the first two runs. Later in the inning, Scoville delivered a two-out RBI single to make the score 10-9; Aaron Lee followed with a two-run single that stunned the Mountain Lions and completed the SU sweep.

Blevins paced Concord's 12-hit attack by going 3-4 with two RBIs. Sydnor went 2-3 with three RBIS and Morrisroe finished 2-4 with three runs scored. Mays also scored three runs.

Lee and Hutter had three hits each for Shepherd.



Up next for Concord (10-14, 3-5) is a visit to WVIAC pre-season favorite West Virginia State. The weekend series between the Mountain Lions and Yellow Jackets begins with a seven-inning doubleheader on Saturday, April 2, starting at 1:00 pm



_{(statistics posted by Concord SID GA Brandon Besl)}

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