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Box Score 2 SHEPHERDSTOWN, W. Va. – The Concord University baseball team split a pair of games against Mountain East Conference rival Shepherd University Saturday at Fairfax Field in Shepherdstown, W. Va. The Rams won the opener, 3-1, before Concord rebounded to take game two, 6-5.
With the split, Concord's record sits at 12-4 overall and 9-1 in MEC competition. The Rams enter Sunday at 9-5 overall and 7-2 in league play.
Senior first baseman
Joey Miller led Concord Saturday by going a combined 3-for-7 with one run, three RBI and one home run, his fourth of the season. Junior outfielder
T.J. Brockway and sophomore shortstop
Brad Sullivan each recorded two hits on the afternoon as well with Sullivan also driving in a run in game two.
Game One: Shepherd 3 – Concord 1 (Box Score)
Game one was a true pitching duel between Concord senior
Ryan Weatherholtz (3-1) and Shepherd's Paul Hvozdovic (3-0). Both hurlers tossed complete games with Weatherholtz giving up just three runs on four hits and four walks while Hvozdovic guided the Rams to the two-run victory after surrendering one run and seven hits to go with four strikeouts.
Shepherd took a 1-0 lead into the fifth inning when the Mountain Lions evened the score on an RBI-single from sophomore outfielder
Andrew Seigel that scored Sullivan, who singled and stole a base earlier in the inning.
However, the Rams answered back in the bottom half of the inning off of back-to-back run-scoring hits from Mike Lott and Kyle Porter to take a 3-1 advantage over Concord. Senior outfielder
Bret Blevins led off the sixth inning with a walk and later stole his fifth base of the year, but Hvozdovic got out of the inning unscathed and proceeded to throw a perfect seventh inning to secure the Rams' win.
Seigel, Blevins, Miller, Brockway, Sullivan, sophomore designated hitter Charlie Goss and junior second baseman
Jerrod Groves all tallied base hits in game one.
Game Two: Concord 6 – Shepherd 5 (Box Score)
After Shepherd scored a pair of runs in the first inning of game two, the Mountain Lions exploded for a five-run second inning en route to a 6-5 triumph.
Miller led the charge with a 2-for-4, one run, three RBI, one home run effort. Seigel, Blevins and Sullivan also plated runs for Concord as well in the one-run victory.
The decisive second inning started with the first four Concord batters all reaching base as junior third baseman
Ryan Johnston singled to leadoff the inning followed by a double by Brockway, Goss drawing a walk and Sullivan reaching on an error that allowed CU's first run to score.
Seigel and Blevins drove in runs later in the inning to give Concord a 3-2 edge leading to a Miller shooting a two-run single up the middle to score Groves and Sullivan to put CU ahead 5-2.
The Rams cut Concord's lead to one run with a pair of scores in the third and fourth, but Miller shutdown the comeback attempt with a leadoff home run to left field in the fifth inning.
SU added one run in the seventh before senior pitcher
Chris Baker entered the game in relief of senior
Tim Leather to end the game after recording three consecutive outs.
Leather, who came on for starter
Tyler Coyle in the third inning, improved to 3-0 on the season after striking out four batters over 3.2 innings of work. Baker picked up his second save of the year with his perfect seventh inning.
Concord will look for its fourth straight series victory with a pair of wins over the Rams Sunday. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
