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Box Score 2
ATHENS, W. Va. – The Concord University softball team earned its first home wins of the season Thursday when the Mountain Lions swept Bluefield State at the CU Softball Field.
The Mountain Lions' bats carried Concord to a 10-1 win in game one while junior
Rachael Mack shutout BSC, and just missed a no-hitter, with a 3-0 win in game two.
As a team, Concord (18-25, 6-12 WVIAC) outhit Bluefield State 21-5.
Senior
Becca Gleason paced Concord on the day with six hits, four runs scored and three RBI. Gleason currently leads the team with 57 hits and an on-base percentage of .443. Freshman
Alyssa Morris extended her hitting streak to 12 games with hits in both contests, including a home run in game one.
Game One - Concord 10 - Bluefield State 1 (Five Innings)
Thursday's opener was never in doubt as the Mountain Lions scored six runs in the opening two innings while sophomores
Lacey McDougall and
Brantlea Wood combined to allow just one run on four hits in the nine-run, 10-1 victory.
Concord's offensive outburst was led by Gleason, who finished a home run away from hitting for the cycle. For the game, Gleason went 4-for-4 with three RBI, three runs scored and one stolen base.
Morris hit her eighth home run of the year to pull to within one long ball of tying former Mountain Lion Ashley Jackson's single-season home run record. Senior
Stephanie Harper drove in two runs on a 2-for-3 day that included a single and a double.
Sophomore
Hayley Wade and freshman
Kristi Benvenuto also plated runs while Mack stole a pair of bases and scored two runs.
In the circle, McDougall improved to 9-12 on the year after striking out one batter and giving up just one hit over three innings.
Wood came on in relief of McDougall in the fourth inning and proceeded to scatter three hits and one run in the final two innings before the game was called due to the eight –run rule in the fifth after Gleason hit a two-run triple that scored sophomore
Jessica Seymour and Mack to end the contest.
Gleason's three-bagger was her fifth triple of the year.
Game Two - Concord 3 - Bluefield State 0
After earning the run-rule victory in game one, the Mountain Lions only scored three runs in game two. However, it was more than enough as Mack pitched her best game of the season, allowing just one hit while striking out six batters to lead CU to the shutout victory, 3-0.
Mack, who improved to 5-10 with the victory, gave up her only hit of the game in the second inning to just miss her first no-hitter of the season. She faced just three batters over the minimum.
Morris drove in what would turn out to be the game-winning run with an RBI-single in the first inning. Wood struck a run-scoring single in the third inning that plated Mack, who singled earlier in the inning to put Concord up 2-0.
Concord's final run of the day came off the bat of Benvenuto, who blasted a double down the left field line that scored Seymour all the way from first base in the fifth inning.
Seven of Concord's nine starters tallied hits in game two with Gleason and Mack both coming away with two hits and one run scored from the top of the CU batting order.
Concord returns to action April 23 when it hosts West Virginia State in doubleheader action. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
