Concord Heads to Charleston, West Virginia State

Concord Stats - Charleston Stats - West Virginia State Stats -  Live Stats (WVSU Game 1) -  Live Stats (WVSU Game 2) - Live Stats (UC Game 1) -  Live Stats (UC Game 2) - Live Video (Charleston)

ATHENS, W.Va- The Concord University softball team travels to the Kanawha Valley for games against West Virginia State 1:00 p.m. Sunday and Charleston 3:00 p.m. Sunday

RECORDS
Concord heads into the matchups at 16-18 overall (5-5 MEC). 

Charleston is 19-8 this year, with a 9-1 record in conference play. The Golden Eagles have won nine in a row. 

The Yellow Jackets are 17-15 overall with a 3-7 mark in conference play. WVSU is 3-3 in its last six games. 
 
LIVE COVERAGE
The University of Charleston and West Virginia State Sports Information Departments will provide live statistics and video for this weekend's games. To access the live coverage, follow the links at the top of the page or click here. 
 
MOUNTAIN LION NOTES
The Mountain Lions picked up two critical victories against UVa.-Wise on Wednesday to improve its record to 5-5 in the Mountain East and take a two-game lead for the final qualifying spot for the Mountain East Conference Tournament. 

CU leads Glenville State and West Virginia State in the South divison, who are both 3-7 in MEC play. 

The wins against UVa.-Wise avenge two losses to the Cavaliers on April 19 and April 30 of last season, with the latter coming in the MEC Tournament. 

The Mountain Lions shutout the Cavaliers in consecutive games, holding UVa.-Wise without a run for just the third and fourth time this season. 

The two shutout victories for the Mountain Lions were the first since consecutively shutting out West Virginia State 3-0 in game two at home on March 26 last
season before defeating WVSU 1-0 in Institute one game later on March 30.    

Senior shortstop Alayna Furr continues to lead the Mountain East in batting average, notching two hits against the Cavaliers on Wednesday to keep her average at .451 for the season, 19 points above second place Tori Pogue of West Virginia Wesleyan. 

Furr has notched six games of three hits this season, and 13 two-hit games.

Furr's average climbs to .474 against conference foes this season.   
 
The Lovettsville, Virginia native also leads the Mountain East in total hits, accumulating 55 total hits at this point in the season, 17 hits ahead of Pogue.

Third on the list of total hits is sophomore outfielder/pitcher Abby Beatty, who has picked up 37 hits this season. 

The Mountain Lions currently have three players hitting .300 or above in conference games this season, Furr (.474), Beatty (.333), and sophomore infielder Kylie Kent, who is hitting .318.     

Solid pitching from senior pitcher/outfielder Sarah Herndon and senior pitcher Allie Reid was instrumental in earning two shutout wins over the Cavaliers.

Both Herndon and Reid pitched complete game, with Herndon allowing just four hits while tying her career-high of nine strikeouts in the circle. 

Reid picked up her 35^th win as a Mountain Lion, tying the record previously held by Lacey McDougall. 

The Lovettsville, Virginia native allowed just five hits and struck out five batters to pick up her sixth win of the season while going the distance for her 10^th complete game of 2017. 

Also evident in helping Concord preserve the shutout was the Concord defense, which managed to make several plays to keep the Cavaliers off of the scoreboard. 

A rangy defensive play from junior third baseman Alycea Watson helped stymie the Cavaliers comeback attempt in the bottom of the seventh inning with runners on first and third.

The New Castle, Delaware native dove to her left side on a hard hit ground ball and threw out the runner at first base to end the game and help preserve the two-run victory.   

In three appearances in the circle in conference games, Herndon has an ERA of 1.05 with 15 strikeouts while going 2-1. 

Reid also has an ERA of less than two in Mountain East Conference contests, posting an ERA of 1.58 in conference games while striking out 15 batters.     

Sophomore outfielder Lindsey Stahl provided Concord's lone run in game one after coming in as a pinch hitter and hitting her third career home run to help Concord
win 1-0. 

The Mountain Lions are 2-0 against West Virginia State and 0-2 against the Golden Eagles at this point in the season. 

Concord's two wins against the Yellow Jackets came in dramatic fashion as the Mountain Lions walked off in both games. 

A walk-off single from Beatty and a walk-off double from freshman second baseman/shortstop Jenna Witt helped Concord pick up two important divisional wins against WVSU, 8-7 and 4-3.

Concord has recently played UC close, with five of the last seven matchups between the two teams being decided by three runs or less.    

Senior outfielder Lauren Lewis picked up a two-RBI performance against WVSU in Concord's last visit to Institute on March 20, 2016 going 2-for-4 from the plate in a 7-1 victory in the second game of the series. 

In game one, Herndon provided another effective performance in the circle for a 1-0 Concord victory, tossing a complete game while allowing just five hits and no earned runs.   

Lewis currently leads the Mountain Lions in multiple RBI games with seven. 
 
SCOUTING CHARLESTON
The Golden Eagles have won nine games in a row, not allowing a run in six of their last seven contests. 

Haleigh Christopher leads the Golden Eagles in average, batting .420 this season with 13 doubles and 10 home runs. 

Laura Ashlock has compiled 30 RBI and seven home runs. 

The Golden Eagles are second in the Mountain East Conference with a .318 team batting average. 

The Golden Eagles have hit 26 home runs, 12 more than any other team in the MEC. 

Jessie Rowe is 10-3 in the circle this year with an earned run average of 2.22.  Alli Burdette is 8-5 and has accumulated 78 strikeouts. 
 
SCOUTING WEST VIRGINIA STATE
West Virginia State posts the second lowest team ERA in the MEC at 2.31. 

The Yellow Jackets have lost two in a row, and have gone 3-3 in conference play since the last meeting with Concord. 

WVSU is tied for fourth in team batting average at .289. 

Brittany Allison leads WVSU in average, posting a .367 average so far with 37 RBI and six home runs. 

Teammate Brooke Hale is batting .360 and 21 RBI. 

Chelsey Perkins is 3-0 this season in the circle with a 1.91 ERA.  Emily Thompson is 5-5 with a 1.91 ERA as well, and has fanned 54 batters in 51.1 innings.