CLEARER PICTURE

CU COMPLETES SWEEP OF BLUEFIELD STATE

Humphreys, Beard Score 246 x 235
The murky image that is Concord's hopes of qualifying for the WVIAC Baseball Tournament came into a clearer focus Sunday afternoon.

The Mountain Lions defeated Mercer County rival Bluefield State, 13-7, completing a sweep of a three-game Southern Division weekend series at Shott Field in Bluefield, WV.

The sweep helped CU step further into the playoff picture. The Mountain Lions remain in 4th place in the division with 106.79 'power rating points.' That's 17.86 points ahead of the University of Charleston, which was swept this weekend at West Virginia State.

The top four teams from each division qualify for the tournament, which starts May 12 in Beckley.

Concord and Charleston each have doubleheaders at Wheeling Jesuit to close out the regular season. CU visits the Cardinals next Saturday, with Charleston meeting WJU the next day.

Josh Wenger, 2-Run Single 314 x 235
On Sunday, Concord took an early 3-0 lead but saw the Big Blues move ahead with a single run in the bottom of the 2nd and three more runs in the 3rd.

However, the Mountain Lions got some help in reclaiming the lead in the top of the 4th. Kyle Webb led off and reached on a two-base throwing error on 3B Ryan Duncan. That set the stage for Ian Humphrey's RBI single that tied the game, and Josh Wenger's two-out, two-run single (right) that put CU in front to stay.

A little more help from BSC got Concord another run in the 6th. With two outs, Blues pitcher Andrew Shoemaker hit Keith Morrisroe with a pitch, and did the same to Jacob Mays. That led to a pitching change, with Morehead State transfer Travis Thompson coming in.
Josh Wenger greeted Thompson with a sharp single to right that made the score 7-4.

Bluefield State threatened in the bottom of the 6th, with three straight one-out singles off CU reliever Dustin Nuckels. Jay Shepherd drove in a run with a groundout, but Nuckels struck out Nate Ramsey to end the inning.

Raphael Sanchez Sac Fly 314 x 235
Concord would come back in the top of the 7th. With one out, Bret Blevins singled and stole second. Webb singled to put runners at the corners, then stole second himself. Thompson uncorked a wild pitch that scored Blevins, and Raphael Sanchez lofted a sacrifice fly (left) that brought in Webb. Concord led 9-5.

BSC countered in the bottom of the 7th. Chris Norquay hit the first pitch of the inning for a solo home run; Nuckels then hit Rico Garcia with a pitch and walked Duncan on four pitches, and CU head coach Andrew Wright brought in Mays to pitch.
Mays retired the first batter he faced, but yielded an RBI double to Jordan Draeger that pulled the Blues within 9-7.
Wright went to the mound to settle down Mays, and the visit worked -- Mays struck out Tyler Griffin then got Shepherd to fly out to Nick Sydnor in right field to end the inning.

Jacob Mays Pitch 235 x 257
Another Big Blue miscue helped Concord score in the top of the 8th. Randy Beard led off, and wound up on second on a two-base throwing error by Griffin at shortstop. Morrisroe's groundout to first advanced Beard 90 feet, and Beard walked in to score on a balk by Thompson.

Bluefield State got back-to-back one-out singles in the bottom of the inning, but Mays (right) worked out of the jam by striking out Duncan and inducing Jimmy Gibson to ground out to Morrisroe at shortstop.

Concord worked some two-out magic to put the game out of reach in the top of the 9th. Humphreys, Beard and Morrisroe hit back-to-back-to-back singles to load the bases, and Mays 'helped his own cause' with a two-run single to right.
A wild pitch would bring in Morrisroe and close out the scoring.

Up next for Concord is that regular season-ending seven-inning doubleheader at Wheeling Jesuit on Saturday, May 7. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 pm in Wheeling, WV.

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