BASEBALL: GOING OUT SMILING

4/29/2012 4:51:00 PM

CU ENDS REGULAR SEASON WITH ROUT OF BLUEFIELD STATE

Down to its last regular season game, and with a spot in next month's conference tournament assured, Concord's baseball team had some fun during Sunday afternoon's matchup against Bluefield State.

Head coach Andrew Wright moved players to different positions inning after inning, including team captain Keith Morrisroe playing all nine spots on the field and starting catcher Ian Humphrey getting an inning's work as a pitcher.

Of course, all those moves wouldn't mean much if the Mountain Lions didn't take care of their business.

Which they did.

Behind seven solid innings from starting pitcher Mike Wood and 15 hits from the offense, CU completed a sweep of its three-game WVIAC South Division series against the Big Blues with a crowd-pleasing 12-0 victory at Anderson Field.

Concord ends the regular season with nine wins in its last ten games.

BOXSCORE / PLAY-BY-PLAY

Wood (above left) scattered eight hits in his sixth start of the season, limiting BSC to 1-6 with runners in scoring position and extricating himself from some jams along the way.
In the top of the 3rd, the Big Blues put runners at the corners with two outs, but Wood got Brady Guimond to pop out. In the 5th, Jon Neuberger doubled and stole third with two outs, but Wood got Robert Haggerty to fly out. In the 7th, the Big Blues loaded the bases with two outs, but Wood induced a groundout from Larry Lowery, the last batter he would face.

The Mountain Lions broke out in front in the bottom of the 3rd. Humphrey led off with a walk, moved to second on a passed ball, advanced to third on a throwing error by C Jordan Draeger, and scored on Randy Beard's sacrifice fly.

Concord scored twice more in the 5th. Joel Gattoni doubled off the wall in right and scored on Beard's RBI single (above right). Jerrod Groves singled to move Beard to third, and Morrisroe's sacrifice fly scored CU's speedy centerfielder for a 3-0 lead.

Ryan Johnston's booming solo home run to left extended Concord's lead to 4-0 in the 6th.

Concord pushed its lead to 7-0 with a three-run rally in the 7th. Beard singled, Elisha Hill reached on a fielder's choice, both advanced on a Morrisroe groundout, and Blevins walked to load the bases. Johnston drove in Beard with a groundout to second, and Wenger cleared the bases with a triple off the wall in left center.

With a lead of that size, Wright energized the crowd by moving out Humphrey from behind home plate to make his first pitching appearance since 2010 (left). The senior sidewinder worked a scoreless 8th, giving up two singles but getting all three outs on groundballs.

The Mountain Lions put away the contest with a five-run rally in the bottom of the 8th. Consecutive singles by Humphrey, Beard, Hill and Morrisroe resulted in the first two runs. With two outs, Johnston singled to load the bases, and Hill scored on a passed ball. Wenger lined two-run single to left to give Concord a 12-0 lead.

In the top of the 9th, Morrisroe ended his tour around the field with the first pitching appearance of his collegiate career. The senior captain (right) gave up a leadoff single to Taylor Gearhart, but retired the next three Big Blues to end the game.

Beard and Wenger each went 3-4 to lead the Concord lineup. Beard scored three runs and drove in two, while Wenger posted four RBIs. Johnston was 3-5, with two RBIs, two runs scored and his team-leading 10th home run of the season. Groves had two hits and Morrisroe posted two RBIs.

Ed Smith went 3-4 for Bluefield State (12-30, 8-20)

Up next for Concord (24-26, 20-15) is the WVIAC Tournament, which begins Thursday, May 10 at Point Stadium in Johnstown, PA. The Mountain Lions won't know their finishing position the South Division and seeding in the tournament until the rest of the league finishes the regular season next week. For the second straight year, the WVIAC Tournament will have three days of pool play leading up the championship game at 1:00 pm on Sunday, May 13.

(statistics provided by CU SID GA Becky Brouse / photos by Jennifer Logan)

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