WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Two late rallies from the Concord University baseball team helped it pick up a pair of wins over Winston-Salem State Saturday afternoon at BB&T Ballpark.
The Mountain Lions (2-5) won game one 10-7 before defeating WSSU (1-8) 9-6 in game two.
Game 1: Concord 10 – Winston-Salem State 7
After falling behind 6-5 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Concord plated five runs in the seventh to win the first game by three runs.
The CU offense tallied four runs in the fifth inning to take a 5-2 lead on the Rams. The frame was highlighted by RBI singles from sophomore outfielder
Evan Webb and senior infielder
Trevor Wiersma.
Concord's three-run advantage would stand up until Winston-Salem State scored four runs in the sixth inning with three coming on a home run by John Garcia.
Facing its final at-bat, the Mountain Lions responded in an emphatic way with five runs to take control of the game. The decisive hit of the inning came from freshman infielder Jakob
Divers who was pinch-hitting with one out and the bases loaded. The Moneta, Virginia native ripped a single down the left field line that plated Wiersma and sophomore catcher
Paul Williams to give CU a 7-6 edge.
Up 10-7 in the seventh, senior pitcher
Eli Flynn struck out the final batter of the game that represented the game-tying run.
Sophomore catcher
Jordan Clark and Divers each tallied two RBI with one of Clark's coming on a bases-loaded walk in the seventh. Webb had the only multi-hit game for Concord in game one.
Flynn (1-1) earned the win for the Mountain Lions as he threw 1.1 innings allowing an unearned run and fanning two batters.
Sophomore pitcher
Troy Beckner tossed the first five innings, giving up three earned runs and striking out two batters.
Game 2: Concord 9 – Winston-Salem State 6
CU's offense came alive in the fifth inning as the Mountain Lions turned a 6-1 deficit into a 9-6 lead after an eight-run inning.
The Maroon and Gray got on the board with a run-scoring hit from Webb in the third, but WSSU responded with two runs in the bottom half, and led by five runs after four innings.
In the fifth inning, Concord produced three consecutive run-scoring hits from sophomore infielder
Adrian Peralta, Williams and Wiersma to start the rally then stayed patient by taking two bases-loaded hit by pitches. Junior outfielder
Oscar Garcia, freshman infielder
Nathan Neff and Webb all had run-scoring hits in the inning as well.
Senior pitcher Nathan Werner kept the Winston-Salem State offense at bay in the final three innings as Concord won by three runs.
Werner (1-0) earned the win for Concord as he tossed the final 3.2 innings in relief, allowing just one hit and striking out five.
Peralta and Webb each notched two RBI in the nightcap. Webb and Wiersma each had two hits while Garcia had a career-high three hits, his second multi-hit game in four starts this season.
The Mountain Lions and WSSU resume the four-game set 1:00 p.m. Sunday.
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