Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 SHEPHERDSTOWN, W. Va. – The Concord University baseball team defeated Shepherd University, 4-1, in game one of Sunday's doubleheader, but had a comeback bid cut short in game two as the Rams escaped with a 7-5 victory in the nightcap when the contest was called due to weather in the bottom of the sixth inning at Fairfax Field.
The Mountain Lions exit the weekend with an overall record of 13-5 on the season and a 10-2 mark in Mountain East Conference competition. The Rams' record moves 10-6 overall and 8-3 in league play with the doubleheader split.
Game One: Concord 4 – Shepherd 1 (Box Score)
Sophomore pitcher
Chris Kelly threw the first complete game of his collegiate career, scattering nine hits and allowing just one run while striking out three batters in Concord's 4-1 victory in game one Sunday.
The Mountain Lions jumped out to an early 2-0 lead when the trio of sophomore outfielder
Andrew Seigel, junior second baseman
Jerrod Groves and senior outfielder
Bret Blevins all reached base to begin the game which helped allow junior outfielder
T.J. Brockway to score Seigel and Groves later in the inning with a two-out single.
Concord extended its lead to 3-0 in the third inning when Brockway drove in Blevins, who led off the inning with a walk before advancing to third base off of a single by senior first baseman
Joey Miller and an accompanying Rams' fielding error. CU added an additional insurance run in the fifth thanks to sophomore shortstop
Brad Sullivan ripping a double to bring in Miller, who walked to leadoff the frame.
The Rams scored its only run of the game with two outs in seventh inning, but Kelly quickly regrouped to end the contest off of a fly out by SU's Spencer Wolfe.
For the game, Brockway went 1-for-3 with three RBI and a stolen base. The game was Brockway's third multi-RBI outing of the season. Seigel and Groves both tallied two-hit, one-run games from the top of CU's batting order with Seigel also stealing his team-high seventh base of the year.
The win was Kelly's third consecutive victory. He has now allowed just six runs over his last 18 innings of work.
Game Two: Shepherd 7 – Concord 5 - Six Innings (Box Score)
Shepherd came back in game two by scoring three runs in the first inning to open up an advantage that Concord could never quite recover from in the Rams' eventual 7-5 victory. The game was stopped in the bottom of the sixth inning due to weather.
Six different Mountain Lions compiled hits in game two with Miller leading the way on a 1-for-2, two-run, one-RBI, one home run performance. The homer was Miller's second in as many days and his fifth of the season. For the year, Miller, who is in the midst of a seven-game hitting streak, is batting .483 with 26 RBI and an on-base percentage of .493. 11 of Miller's 29 hits have gone for extra bases in 2014.
Sophomore designated hitter
Charles Goss added a pair of RBI while Blevins and senior catcher
Brandon Costa also drove in runs in the defeat.
Trailing 3-0 heading into the second inning, the Mountain Lions chipped into the Rams' advantage off of a leadoff home run by Miller and an RBI-single up the middle by Costa later in the inning that drove in junior third baseman
Ryan Johnston.
After Shepherd got a run back in the bottom of the second to push its lead to 4-2, Concord countered to tie the contest with a two-run third inning that featured Blevins scoring Groves with help from a Rams error before later crossing home plate himself via an RBI-single to left field from Goss.
However, Shepherd answered with three more runs fourth inning that ultimately proved too much for CU to overcome. The Mountain Lions began to cut into SU's lead with a run in the fifth off of a sacrifice fly from Goss, but Shepherd pitcher Mac West was able to end the comeback threat by stranding two CU runners to end the inning.
Concord left one runner on base in the sixth and was denied a final chance to overtake Shepherd when weather forced the premature end of the game resulting in a second doubleheader split between the two schools this weekend.
Freshman pitcher
Zach Kelly (2-1) took the loss for Concord in game two after giving up seven runs, six earned, in 3.1 innings pitched. Senior
Chris Baker came on in relief of Kelly in the fourth and went on to toss 1.2 scoreless innings. Baker has not given up a run in his last four appearances, a span of 5.2 innings.
The Mountain Lions remain on the road for two doubleheaders March 22-23 at Urbana University in Urbana, Ohio.
