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Box Score 2 ATHENS, W. Va. – The Concord University baseball team finished off its first weekend of Mountain East Conference play by taking a pair of games from Fairmont State University, 5-3 and 4-3, Sunday afternoon at Anderson Field to give Mountain Lions a 4-0 weekend against the Falcons.
The wins improve Concord's record to 7-3 overall and 4-0 in league play. Fairmont State drops to 0-8 overall and 0-4 in the MEC.
Leading the way for the Mountain Lions was leadoff hitter sophomore outfielder
Andrew Seigel, who went 4-for-7 on Sunday with two runs scored, one RBI and three stolen bases. Senior first baseman
Joey Miller also had another productive day, combining to go 3-for-6 with one run and three RBI.
A quartet of pitchers paced Concord with more solid outings from a staff that allowed just 10 runs over the four-game series (2.5 runs per game). Sophomore
Chris Kelly improved to 1-1 on the season with the win in game one while freshman
Zach Kelly finished the day with the victory in game two for his first collegiate win. Junior pitchers
Chris Baker and
Barinder Rakkar threw a total of 4.1 scoreless innings to earn saves in game one and two, respectively.
Game One: Concord 5 – Fairmont State 3 (Box Score)
Fairmont State jumped out to a 3-0 lead through the opening three innings of game one before Concord began its rally in the fourth inning.
The Mountain Lions, which managed just one hit off of FSU starter Nick Opferman (0-2) in the first three innings, produced its first run of the contest in the fourth when sophomore designated hitter
Joe Camp came through with an RBI-single to left field that scored senior outfielder
Bret Blevins from second base to make it a two-run game.
Concord pulled ahead of Fairmont State in the fifth inning thanks to four runs that started with junior second baseman
Jerrod Groves' two-run single that plated Seigel and sophomore shortstop
Brad Sullivan, who reached base earlier in the inning off of a walk and base hit.
With the game tied at 3-3, the duo of Miller and junior
Ryan Johnston provided the game's decisive runs on back-to-back run-scoring hits with Miller's coming by way of a single to score Groves and Johnston's being a double to bring Miller home.
Baker came on in relief of C. Kelly in the sixth and proceed to allow just one hit while striking out three batters over the game's final two innings to preserve Concord's 5-3 victory. Prior to Baker entering the game, C. Kelly scattered six hits and three runs over five innings.
Seven different Mountain Lions recorded hits in the opener including Miller and Seigel, who ended the day with matching eight-game hitting streaks. Camp's RBI was his seventh in the last eight games and Blevins' single in the fourth inning was the 215th hit of his career. He now needs just three more hits to tie Concord Hall of Famer Joe Besl for the fourth most in CU history.
Game Two: Concord 4 – Fairmont State 3 (Box Score)
Concord once again found itself in a 3-0 hole to start game two before a pair of two-run innings combined with solid pitching down the stretch ensured the Mountain Lions of a perfect weekend.
The comeback started with a two-out, two-run single by Miller in the third inning that once again allowed Seigel and Sullivan to score. The Mountain Lions evened the score in fourth when Sullivan, who had doubled earlier in the frame, scored on a wild pitch. Concord received the go-ahead run later in the inning with a clutch two-out hit by Seigel.
The one-run lead was all Z. Kelly and Rakkar needed as the pitchers went on to allow just one Falcon hit in the final three innings of play in the victory. Z. Kelly earned the win after giving Concord 4.2 innings of three-run, two-strikeout pitching. Rakkar entered the game with two outs in the fifth inning and finished off the outing by allowing no hits and walking only two batters for the save.
Three CU players tallied multi-hit contests in game two. Seigel led the way thanks to a 3-for-4 showing that included one run, one RBI and two stolen bases. Miller and Sullivan both checked in with 2-for-3 efforts with Miller driving in two runs and Sullivan swiping his fifth base of the year. Senior catcher
Brandon Costa accounted for Concord's eighth hit and scored the game-winning run.
Concord looks to push its winning streak to six games with a pair of victories over Notre Dame College starting 12:00 p.m. Saturday at Anderson Field.
