Concord Earns Road Split at UVa.-Wise

WISE, Va.- The Concord University Softball team split with UVa.-Wise on Tuesday evening, winning the first game 7-5 before dropping the second game 8-7. 
 
Concord's record currently stands at 21-15 (10-8) MEC, while UVa.-Wise are now 20-19 overall (10-8 MEC). 
 
Game 1: Concord 8 - UVa.-Wise 7  
A furious rally by Concord saw the Mountain Lions claim an improbably comeback to take game one.

After falling into an early 5-0 hole, the Mountain Lions responded wtih six runs in the fifth inning behind home runs from junior pitcher / outfielder Sarah Herndon and junior outfielder Lauren Lewis.

Sophomore catcher / designated hiter Nicole Neri singled home senior second baseman / outfielder Kristen Rose to start the inning before Lewis launched her third home run of the season. Herndon capped the rally by sending her first career home run, a three-run shot, over the left field fence to put CU in front 6-5.

The Mountain Lions tacked on an insurance run in the seventh inning after sophomore third baseman Alycea Watson singled up the middle to score Lewis. 

Herndon retired all three batters she faced in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the two-run victory. 
 
Lewis  finished 2-for-4 with two RBI while Herndon tallied three RBI.

Watson also finished with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 and driving in a run.
 
Herndon pitched a complete game, striking out five on her way to her ninth win of the season.
 
Game 2: UVa.-Wise 8 - Concord 7
After trailing 2-1 through three innings, Concord found themselves on the comeback trail once again, plating two runs in the fourth inning to take a 3-2 lead after junior shortstop Alayna Furr singled to score Rose. 

UVa.-Wise walked Lewis in with the bases loaded to add the second run of the inning. 

The Cavaliers added four runs in the bottom of the inning to reclaim the lead 6-3.  CU continued to chip away at the Cavaliers' lead, scoring two runs in the top of the fifth before taking the lead in the seventh, 7-6, on a pair of UVa.-Wise errors as freshman infielder Kylie Kent and Rose raced home.

UVa.-Wise responded right back with a run of their own to send the game to extra innings. The Cavaliers scored in the bottom of the eighth inning to secure the split.
 
Furr finished 3-for-5 with an RBI while Herndon and Rose were both 2-for-4. Herndon added an RBI, and Rose scored three times.  Lewis and Neri each had RBI for CU. 

Herndon was tagged with the loss for Concord.
 
Concord will continue Mountain East Conference play when it travels to Fairmont State on Saturday for a doubleheader at 2 and 4 p.m.         
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