TROUTVILLE, Va.- The Concord University Softball team split a pair of games to open the Mountain East Conference Tournament.
Concord defeated Wheeling Jesuit 6-0 before falling late to Charleston 6-3.
Concord is now 30-22 overall. Wheeling Jesuit drops to 34-19 overall. Charleston improves to 45-7 with the win.
GAME 1: Concord 6 - Wheeling Jesuit 0
After both teams remained deadlocked at 0-0 after one, sophomore third baseman
Alycea Watson drove in junior outfielder
Lauren Lewis with an RBI single who had reached earlier in the inning on a single of her own. Senior catcher
Alyssa Morris and Watson touched home plate later in the first as well after a fielding error by Wheeling Jesuit. Concord added three more runs in the top of the fifth, with Watson once again singling to bring home junior shortstop
Alayna Furr.
Senior second baseman
Kristen Rose then smashed a double down the right field line to score Morris. The rally continued as junior third baseman
Courtney Purtell added an insurance run with an RBI groundout to score Watson.
Freshman pitcher
Aarron Ward picked up her sixth win of the season in her return to the circle for CU.
The Logan, W.Va native recorded five innings, allowing four hits and striking out a batter. Freshman pitcher / outfielder
Abby Beatty provided two innings of relief work to help seal the win for CU.
Watson finished 2-for-4 with two RBI, while Rose and Purtell added an RBI each. Rose registered two hits on the day as well
GAME 2: Charleston 6 - Concord 3
Concord squared off with Charleston in game two in a winnner's bracket contest.
The Golden Eagles were coming off of a narrow 3-2 victory against Notre Dame in their first matchup of the day.
After falling behind 1-0 in the first inning, CU answered with two runs in the second inning courtesy of a two-run home run by Beatty. The two-run shot scored freshman infielder
Kylie Kent, who singled earlier in the inning. The Mountain Lions extended the lead to 3-1 in the third after Watson plated Morris, who was on second after a double to right field. After adding a run in the fourth, Charleston scored four runs in the fifth inning to grab a 6-3 lead. The Mountain Lions could not reduce the deficit as it fell by three runs
Beatty took the loss in the circle for the Mountain Lions. Beatty and Watson accounted for Concord's RBI, while Kent, sophomore designated hitter
Nicole Neri, Morris, and Furr each added a hit.
Concord will face an elimination game tomorrow when it takes on the winner of Shepherd and Fairmont State at 12 p.m. on Saturday.
