Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 ATHENS, W. Va. – Senior pitcher
Ryan Weatherholtz continued his dominance on the mound while the combination of senior first baseman
Joey Miller and senior outfielder
Bret Blevins drove in six and four runs apiece as the Concord University baseball team took two games from West Liberty Saturday afternoon at Anderson Field 11-0, 9-5.
The victories improve Concord's record to 31-13 overall and 28-10 in Mountain East Conference competition. The 30-win season is the fourth in program history; Concord previously won at least 30 games in 2013 (36), 2008 (35) and 2000 (33). West Liberty dropped to 22-21 overall and 19-16 in league play.
On the day, Blevins combined to go 3-for-3 with four runs scored, four RBI, one home run and one double. Blevins also pushed his hitting streak to 13 games, the longest such streak by any CU player in 2014.
Miller also registered a home run, his team-leading ninth of the season, on a 2-for-5, two-run, six-RBI, three-walk day at the plate. Leadoff hitter junior second baseman
Jerrod Groves also had a solid doubleheader, going 4-for-8 with four runs and one double.
Weatherholtz extended his scoreless inning streak to 21.1 innings in yet another complete-game shutout performance in Concord's 11-0 game one victory.
The Manassas, Va. native cruised to the win by allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out eight batters on 84 pitchers to improve his record to 6-4 on the season. Weatherholtz gave up a walk in the first inning and two hits in the second before proceeding to retire 14 consecutive batters until WLU's Mark Johnson ended the run with a one-out single in the seventh before he ended the game with two quick outs.
With Weatherholtz in firm control of the game on the mound, the Mountain Lions' offense did its part at the plate by totaling 14 hits, six of which were doubles, en route to the team's eighth double-digit scoring performance of the season. Eight of Concord's nine starters tallied hits.
CU plated two runs in both the first and second innings before blowing the game open via three runs in the third and four more in the fourth.
Groves set the tone for the game atop the batting order on a 3-for-5, two-run effort. The multi-hit game was his team leading 16
th of the year. Sophomore designated hitter
Joe Camp and senior catcher
Brandon Costa also added multi-hit games with two and three, respectively. Costa also drove in a pair of runs while Camp added an RBI of his own.
While everyone hit in the opener, it was Miller who was responsible for the majority of the runs thanks to six RBI, a career-high. His first came in the second inning, three in the fourth that came on a towering home run and two more off of a double in the fifth.
Looking to salvage the day, West Liberty came out of hot to start game two with a four-run first inning. However, Concord's offense rallied and senior starting pitcher
Tyler Coyle settled down to allow CU to secure the 9-5 comeback victory.
After West Liberty's big first inning Concord responded with five consecutive runs off of a first inning RBI by junior third baseman
Ryan Johnston as well as a run-scoring single off the bat of sophomore outfielder
Andrew Seigel and three-run home run from Blevins in the second to put the Mountain Lions ahead 5-4.
The Hilltoppers continued to battle and evened tied the contest at 5-5 in the top of the fourth inning, but Concord's offense proved to be too much for West Liberty as CU came away with three runs in the bottom of the frame by way of another Johnston RBI and a two-run hit by Camp.
The Mountain Lions added an insurance run in the sixth inning while senior
Chris Baker came on in relief of Coyle in the seventh to record the day's final three outs in the four-run Concord triumph.
Blevins paced Concord in game two by going 2-for-2, with two runs, three RBI and his second home run of the season. Groves, Seigel, Johnston, Camp and sophomore outfielder
Charles Goss finished with one hit each while Miller drew three walks.
Coyle moved to 6-2 on the season on a day in which he struck out five WLU batters and scattered five runs (one earned) on eight hits over six innings. After a rough first inning, Coyle responded by holding West Liberty to one run and three hits before giving way to Baker in the seventh.
Concord will look to complete the four-game sweep of West Liberty 1:00 p.m. Sunday at Anderson Field.
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