Concord Splits Sunday Doubleheader vs. West Liberty, Takes Series 3-1

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ATHENS, W. Va. – The Concord University baseball team dropped a tight 3-2 game in extra innings to West Liberty in game one before bouncing back with a convincing 11-0 shutout victory in game two to earn a doubleheader split in Mountain East Conference play at Anderson Field Sunday.

The split gives Concord the 3-1 series victory over the Hilltoppers while moving CU's record to 32-14 overall and 29-11 in the MEC. With four games remaining in the regular season, Concord is firmly entrenched in second place in the league standings heading into the postseason.

A trio of Mountain Lions recorded hits in both games Sunday as sophomore designated hitter Joe Camp went 4-for-6 followed by junior second baseman Jerrod Groves at 3-for-8 and senior Bret Blevins, who extended his hitting streak to 15 games after a 3-for-7 day at the plate.

Concord also received quality Sunday outings from a quartet of pitchers. Sophomore Chris Kelly and senior Tim Leather (4-1) kept CU in the opener by combining to allow just eight hits and three runs while the duo of junior Kevin Mack (2-1) and sophomore Brandon Tucker registered the seven-hit shutout in the nightcap.

West Liberty posted runs in the second and sixth innings of game one, but Concord made a dramatic rally in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings before losing the close one-run affair to the Hilltoppers in nine innings.

Trailing 2-0 and down to their final two outs in the seventh inning, the Mountain Lions started their comeback bid when junior outfielder Ryan Johnston was hit by a pitch. Camp promptly stepped up to deliver a single through the left side of the infield to put runners on first and second. After a Brad Sullivan fly-out, sophomore outfielder Charles Goss loaded the bases when he too was hit by an errant WLU pitch.

With two outs and the game on the line junior T.J. Brockway pinch hit for senior catcher Brandon Costa and proceeded to tie the contest by sending a 3-2 pitch into right field to drive in Johnston and pinch runner Eli Flynn before Goss was thrown out rounding third base to send the game into extra innings.

Both teams would leave runners on base in the eighth inning, but West Liberty broke through the go-ahead run in the ninth via an RBI-single by John Brunner. WLU pitcher Greg Stagani managed to retire Concord in order in the bottom of the ninth to secure the one-run victory.

Kelly pitched 6.1 effective innings for CU, giving up just five hits and two runs (one earned) while striking out four batters. Leather, who entered the game by throwing consecutive strikeouts to get out of a two-on, one-out jam in seventh, was the pitcher of record for Concord after giving the Maroon and Gray 2.2 solid innings of relief where he surrendered three hits and one run.

Groves and Camp both went for two hits with singles by Blevins and Brockway accounting for Concord's only other hits of the game.

The Mountain Lions' offense quickly regrouped to pound out 16 hits in game two with a six-run fourth inning sparking Concord to its 11-0 shutout.

Concord jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning off of RBI-hits from Johnston and Costa before putting the game out of reach with its huge fourth inning that featured seven hits and six consecutive RBI from the pack of Sullivan, Costa, Groves, sophomore outfielder Andrew Seigel, Blevins and senior first baseman Joey Miller.

CU ended its barrage with three more runs in the sixth off of back-to-back run-scoring hits from Johnston and freshman Patrick Thompson as well as Brockway's third RBI of the day. Thompson is now 2-for-2 this season as a pinch hitter.
 
While the Concord offense was working through five West Liberty pitchers, Mack sailed through the WLU batting order, striking out four batters in six innings and allowing just three runners into scoring position all day. Mack gave way to Tucker in the seventh to close out the victory.

Nine different players tallied hits in game two. Costa led the charge via a 3-for-3 two-RBI outing. Miller (3-for-4), Johnston (2-for-2, two RBI), Camp (2-for-3) and Blevins (2-for-4) each came away with two-hit games as well.
 
The 16 hits were just one off of the team's season-high of 17, set April 19 at West Virginia Wesleyan. The shutout effort was CU's ninth of the year.
 
Concord will look to finish its 2014 regular season on a high note with four games vs. UVa.-Wise May 3-4 at Anderson Field. A sweep of the Cavaliers would give CU 36 wins on the season, tying for the most single-season victories in program history. First pitch is slated for 1:00 p.m. on both days.