Concord Runs Away With Pair vs. UVa.-Wise

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ATHENS, W. Va. – The Concord University baseball team exploded for 32 runs on 33 hits Saturday afternoon at Anderson Field in a convincing doubleheader sweep of Mountain East Conference foe UVa.-Wise. The Mountain Lions followed a 12-2 game one victory up with a 20-5 defeat of the Cavaliers in game two.
 
The wins move Concord's record to 34-14 overall on the season and to within a pair of victories from tying the school-record for single-season wins. UVa.-Wise's record drops to 16-25 on the year with the defeats.
 
Neither contest was close as the Mountain Lions jumped out to early leads in both games en route to the double-digit victories. One of the many highlights of the afternoon was Concord's offense batting around in consecutive innings in the second and third frames of game two. 12 of the 14 Concord players to record an at-bat Saturday registered at least one hit.
 
The Mountain Lions have now scored at least 10 runs in a game 11 times this season. The 20 runs in game two were the most scored by CU since scoring 27 runs in a nine-inning victory vs. Bluefield State on April 24, 2013.
 
On a day in which Concord honored its 2014 senior class it was fitting that the Mountain Lions' charge was led by all eight individuals.
 
Offensively, outfielder Bret Blevins finished the day a combined 6-for-8 with five runs, three RBI and three stolen bases; Joey Miller belted his 10^th home run of the season and drove in seven runs; catcher Brandon Costa was 4-for-6 while the duo of pitchers Chris Baker and Tim Leather saw time in the field in game two with both men coming away with hits in what was just their 17^th and 11^th at-bats at Concord. Blevins also extended his hitting streak to a team-high 17 games.
 
On the mound the trio of Ryan Weatherholtz (7-4), Tyler Coyle (7-2) and Dustin Nuckels all had standout outings against the Cavaliers. Weatherholtz picked up the game one victory by striking out five batters and giving up five hits in 4.2 innings pitched. Coyle was the pitcher of record in the nightcap after throwing five innings of two-run baseball. Nuckels came on in relief of Weatherholtz in the opener and went on to strikeout two batters and hold UVa.-Wise hitless in 2.1 innings of work.
 
Other top performers on the day included junior second baseman Jerrod Groves, junior third baseman Ryan Johnston and sophomore designated hitter Joe Camp. Groves totaled four hits and five RBI on the day, Johnston collected three hits and Camp produced three hits and five runs.
 
Concord will look to close out the regular season with two more wins over UVa.-Wise starting 12:00 p.m. Sunday at Anderson Field.