Concord Falls in Two Games on Final Day of PFX Tournament

CLERMONT, Fla. - The Concord University softball team fell 7-3 to Indiana (Pa.) and 8-4 to Bloomsburg on the final day of the Florida PFX Tournament on Monday. 
 
Concord drops to 11-3 overall while IUP improves to 4-2 this season. The Huskies are now 6-3 overall.  
 
GAME 1: Indiana (Pa.)  7 – Concord 3
CU could not overcome an early deficit against Indiana (Pa.) in the day's first game.

IUP took an early advantage at the top of the first inning after Ashley Smith singled through the right side to score Lauren Goetz. 

A two-RBI double from Amanda Parrish finished the scoring for Indiana (Pa.) in the top half of the first inning.

Concord tacked on a run in the bottom of the frame when senior shortstop Alayna Furr used a bunt single to lead off the inning. Senior pitcher Allie Reid bunted the next at-bat to move Furr to second, before a double by sophomore outfielder/pitcher Abby Beatty brought Furr home to reduce the IUP lead to 3-1.

IUP brought the lead back to three, 4-1, in the top of the third after a leadoff double from Hannah Mercer helped her later score on a sacrifice fly from Parrish.

Concord added second run in the bottom of the fourth inning when junior third baseman Alycea Watson, who tripled earlier in the inning, scored on an error by IUP with two outs.

IUP tallied another run in the top of the fifth, when Kaitlyn Beers singled home Kassie Kesneck to give the Crimson Hawks a 5-2 advantage after five frames. 

Trailing 7-2, Concord chipped away at the lead in the top of the sixth after senior outfielder Lauren Lewis hit her second home run of the season to bring the Mountain Lions within three. 

However, IUP closed the game out over the final two innings to secure a 7-3 win. 

Furr finished 3-for-4 at the plate, the third time this season she has hit for three times in a game.           

Beatty drove in her seventh run of the PFX Spring Games with the double. Lewis's home run was the second of the season and the 25^th of her career.  

Watson finished 2-for-2 at the plate with a run scored. 

Freshman first baseman / pitcher Rachel Pritchard (2-2) was tagged with the loss, tossing four innings and allowing three earned runs.

GAME 2: Bloomsburg 8 - Concord 4 
The Mountain Lions surrendered four runs in the first inning as Bloomsburg never relinquished the lead after the first.

However, it was Concord that jumped out to an early lead after Beatty doubled home sophomore second baseman/shortstop Jenna Witt from first base to take a 1-0 lead.  

A four-run first inning from Bloomsburg helped the Huskies take a 4-1 lead after one.

In the next Concord at-bat, it reduced the deficit to one run, 4-3 when sophomore infielder Kylie Kent hit a two-run double to center field to score senior pitcher Allie Reid and Lewis.

Bloomsburg got a run in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI off of a fielder's choice to make the score 5-3.  

The Huskies added three runs in the bottom of the fourth to take an 8-3 lead after four innings.  

The Mountain Lions added a run in the sixth inning when Witt reached on a fielder's choice to score Furr to narrow the deficit 8-4,  but the Mountain Lions could not plate any other runs.

Lewis finished with three hits and a run scored, for her first three-hit game of the season.  

Beatty was 2-for-4 at the plate with an RBI to finish the tournament with eight runs batted in.  Kent collected her third multi-RBI game of the year. 

Pritchard tossed two innings without giving up a hit in relief for CU after coming in for Reid (5-5).

Concord opens up conference play this weekend against West Virginia State and Charleston.