BASEBALL: THWARTED

CU DENIED IN BID TO SPLIT vs WV STATE

Concord's baseball team dropped both games of its doubleheader against WVIAC South Division rival West Virginia State, 8-1 and 6-5, Saturday afternoon at Anderson Field.

CU's conference record fell to 8-8, while the visiting Yellowjackets improved to 7-8.

GAME ONE
BOXSCORE / PLAY-BY-PLAY

Jerrod Groves leads off
WVSU took a 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st on Andrew Pickering's RBI single, but Concord squared the score in the bottom of the 2nd.  Jerrod Groves (right) singled and stole second, and scored after Yellowjackets 2B Noah Blackhurst misplayed a hard-hit grounder from Keith Morrisroe.

The 1-1 score held until the top of the 4th, when WV State hit six singles – highlighted by Eric Temple's two-out, two-run base hit – and scored five times.  Pickering struck again in the 6th, with a two-run double that closed out the scoring.

Given the lead, Yellowjackets starting pitcher Chase Pickering closed it out.  The left-hander gave up five hits and no walks, while striking out nine, in a complete-game victory.

Groves had two hits to lead Concord.


GAME TWO
BOXSCORE / PLAY-BY-PLAY

Devin Smith doubles
West Virginia State put together another 1st-inning rally, this time for five runs.  But CU starter Tyler Zimm settled down after that to keep the 'Jackets off the board and give his team time to come back.

Concord got to WVSU starter Kelly Williams for three runs in the bottom of the 2nd.  Bret Blevins led off with a triple off the wall in center, and Josh Wenger singled him home.  Devin Smith (left) doubled to left, and Ian Humphrey brought in two more runs with a double just inside the left field line.

The Mountain Lions pulled within 5-4 with a two-out rally in the 3rd.  Blevins reached on an infield single to the hole at shortstop, and Zach Cloxton – who replaced Wenger in the 2nd inning – launched a double to the gap in right center to bring in the run.

WVSU threatened in the 5th, putting runners at the corners with one out.  But Zimm got Garret Kiser to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Concord tied the game in the 6th, when Smith doubled with two outs and scored when SS Jeffrey Bunch misplayed Ian Humphrey's ground ball.

But Zimm ran out of gas in the 7th. Eric Craft and Anthony Payne started the inning with back-to-back singles, ending Zimm's day.  Reliever Will Zuspan got one out, but Blackhurst poked a single to left that brought in the deciding run.
Zimm took the loss, despite allowing only three hits in his last five innings.  Blevins and Smith each had two hits to pace the CU lineup.  Over the last two innings, Concord had two runners thrown out attempting to reach third, and another at home plate.


Up next for Concord (12-19) is the finale of its three-game series against WVSU.  The two division rivals meet again tomorrow -- Sunday, April 1 – with first pitch scheduled for 1:00 pm at Anderson Field.  Admission is free.



(statistics provided by CU SID GA Becky Brouse)



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