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Box Score 2
SHEPHERDSTOWN, W. Va. – The Concord University softball team lost a pair of close games Saturday afternoon at Shepherd. The Mountain Lions lost 6-5 in game one after a seventh inning two-run home run by Shepherd. CU led early in game two, but Shepherd rallied for a 6-4 win to earn the sweep.
Concord (16-23, 4-10 WVIAC) was led on day by senior
Becca Gleason, who went 4-for-8 with two runs, two RBI and one stolen base.
Game One: Shepherd 6 – Concord 5
Concord trailed Shepherd (17-19, 8-4 WVIAC) 4-0 through the first four innings, but CU stormed ahead of the Rams with a five-run fifth inning to take a 5-4 lead.
With the bases loaded and just one out in the inning, a fielding error by Shepherd's second baseman allowed two runs to score.
Gleason proceeded to shoot a two-run single up the middle that scored two more runs. Gleason went on to steal second base and move to third on a
Brantlea Wood single before scoring the go-ahead run when freshman
Alyssa Morris hit into a fielder's choice.
Sophomore pitcher
Lacey McDougall successfully defended Concord's one-run lead in the fifth and the sixth inning. However, with one out in the seventh inning, Kass Taylor singled followed by Carly Schmidt's two-run game-winning home run to right field that gave Shepherd the narrow 6-5 victory.
Gleason was 3-for-4 with one run, two RBI and a stolen base in the opener. Morris, Wood and senior
Stephanie Harper accounted for CU's other three hits with Morris also driving in one run. McDougall (8-11) took the loss after allowing 11 hits and six runs while striking out one batter.
Game Two: Shepherd 6 – Concord 4
Concord jumped out to a 3-1 edge over Shepherd in game two thanks to a three-run third inning.
The Mountain Lions loaded the bases in the inning and Morris forced a walk to score sophomore
Jessica Seymour, who led off the inning with a walk, to make it a 1-1 game. With two outs in the inning, Harper put CU up 3-1 when she struck a two-run double to center field to score junior
Rachael Mack and Gleason.
The lead would be short lived as Shepherd put up five runs in the fourth inning off of four hits, including a two-run triple from Bianca Biondillo to take a 6-3 advantage heading into the game's final innings.
Concord started its comeback in the sixth inning when sophomore
Hayley Wade led off with a single before being advanced to second by a single from McDougall. With runners now on first and third with two outs, freshman
Kristi Benvenuto blasted a single up the middle that scored Wade from third base to cut the deficit to just two runs at 6-4.
However, Shepherd managed to get out of the inning by stranding two CU runners and only surrender one hit to Concord in the seventh, a single from Morris, to hold onto the 6-4 win.
Wade was 2-for-3 with one run scored in game two while Harper (2), Morris (1) and Benvenuto (1) accounted for the Mountain Lions' RBI.
Mack (4-9) was the pitcher of record for Concord, allowing the six runs on seven hits in her seventh complete game of the year.
Concord will look to rebound from Saturday's losses with a pair of wins Sunday at Seton Hill.
