HITS AND MISSES

STRONG BATS, WOBBLY DEFENSE RESULT IN SPLIT vs OVU

Keith Morrisroe Hit 314 x 235
Concord's Baseball team was productive on offense, but unsteady on defense, and thus had to settle for a split of its WVIAC Southern Division hybrid doubleheader against Ohio Valley Sunday afternoon at Anderson Field.

The Mountain Lions slugged their way to 15-10 win in the first game – a seven-inning contest postponed from Saturday – but committed five errors and couldn't protect a five-run lead in 13-7 defeat in Sunday's originally-scheduled nine-inning game.

CU took two out of three games in the important weekend series (including Saturday's 17-3 victory) to solidify its hold on 4th place in the WVIAC South. The top four teams from each division qualify for the conference tournament next month.

GAME ONE (7 Inning Game)
BOXSCORE / PLAY-BY-PLAY

Concord scratched out two runs in the bottom of the 1st, but the Fighting Scots rapped out seven hits in scoring six runs in the top of the 2nd.

The Mountain Lions scored twice again in the bottom of the 2nd, on an RBI double by Randy Beard and an RBI single by Keith Morrisroe.

Concord squared the game with a two-out, two-run rally in the 3rd. Bret Blevins doubled to left, and came around to score after Scots 2B Tyler Welch misplayed a grounder off the bat of Nick Sydnor.
Sydnor stole second, and scored on Raphael Sanchez's double to left.

OVU grabbed the lead back with two runs in the top of the 4th, aided by a Concord error, but they hold on the lead was brief.

The Mountain Lions moved ahead to stay with four runs in the bottom of the 4th. Morrisroe and Jacob Mays hit back-to-back one-out doubles to pull CU within 8-7; one out later, Kyle Webb drew a walk. The inning stayed alive, bringing up Blevins, who crushed a three-run home run to put CU in front 10-7.

Big Lefty Cut 1024 x 440













Concord played long ball again in the 5th. After Ian Humphrey and Morrisroe walked, Mays launched a one-out three-run homer to right to extend the lead to 13-8.
Webb and Wenger hit back-to-back singles and each advanced on wild pitch. One out later, Sydnor guided a two-run double to right to make the score 15-8.

OVU made things interesting in the top of the 7th, scoring twice with two outs and loading the bases off CU reliever Dustin Nuckels, but Will Zuspan came in and got pinch-hitter Britt West to pop out to nail down the Concord victory.

Morrisroe topped the CU offense by going 3-4 with two runs, an RBI, a double and a stolen base. Beard, Mays, Wenger, Blevins and Sydnor had two hits apiece.


GAME TWO (9 Inning Game)
BOXSCORE / PLAY-BY-PLAY

The Mountain Lions spotted OVU an early lead but pieced together four straight scoring innings to lead 6-1 going into the 6th.

In the bottom of the 2nd, Mays delivered a two-run, bases-loaded single that erased the Fighting Scots 1-0 advantage.

Ian Humphrey Hit 279 x 235
In the 3rd, Humphrey's sacrifice fly made the score 3-1.

In the 4th, Webb singled to drive in Mays, who had doubled.

In the 5th, Humphrey (right) launched his first home run of the season, a two-run blast that gave Concord a five-run lead.

But the Mountain Lions defense then went south. In the top of the 6th, a CU error opened the door for what wound up being a four-run OVU rally, moving the visitors within 6-5.

The Fighting Scots chased CU starting pitcher Jacob Mays in the 7th, scoring twice more to take a 7-6 lead.

Concord's running game tied the score in the bottom of the 7th. With two outs, Mays stole third base and came in to score on throwing error by Scots C Shawn Brand.

But the Mountain Lions committed two more errors in the top of the 8th. OVU wound up scoring three times, twice unearned, to lead 10-7.

Concord put runners at second and third with two outs in the bottom of the 8th but could not cut into their deficit.

The Fighting Scots bunched together a walk and two singles and benefitted from another Concord error to score three more times in the top of 9th.

Concord would leave 16 runners on base.

Mays went 3-4 with a double, a run scored and two RBIs; Sydnor finished 3-5. Beard and Cloxton added two hits each.


Up next for Concord is another WVIAC Southern Division series at Anderson Field, against the University of Charleston, next Saturday and Sunday, April 16 and 17.
The Mountain Lions and Golden Eagles will play a seven-inning doubleheader at 1:00 pm Saturday, and a single nine-inning game at noon on Sunday. Admission is free.



(statistics provided by Concord SID GA Brandon Besl)




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