ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University baseball team earned a split with West Virginia Wesleyan Saturday afternoon in Mountain East Conference play at Anderson Field as WVWC won 14-12 in game one, but CU came back to win game two, 17-2.
With the split, CU maintains a one-game lead for first in the MEC South Division at 13-7 while sporting a 20-17 overall mark. Meanwhile, West Virginia Wesleyan is 14-21 overall and 12-8 in the MEC.
Game 1: West Virginia Wesleyan 14 – Concord 12 (Eight Innings)
WVWC stormed back from an 11-3 deficit and won the game by two runs in eight innings.
The Mountain Lions raced out to a 7-0 lead after three innings and 11-3 after four innings.
The fast scoring was a product of a six-run second inning that was highlighted by an two-run single from freshman infielder
Nathan Neff and an RBI triple from junior infielder
Chad Frazier.
CU got four additional runs in the fourth inning with freshman infielder Jakob Diver singled home two runs while sophomore catcher
Jordan Clark and sophomore infielder
Brett Simmons each picked up an RBI.
West Virginia Wesleyan got the game to within a run, 11-10, by scoring seven runs in the fifth inning.
After a scoreless sixth, the action picked up in the seventh as WVWC's Eric Forbrick and Ryan Kiser each singled home a run to give Wesleyan its first lead of the day, 12-11.
However, in the bottom of the seventh with Concord down to its last out sophomore infielder
Trevor Wiersma came up clutch, ripping a double to the left center field gap to score Neff, bringing the score to 12-12.
The Bobcats answered with two more runs in the eighth to move ahead 14-12.
With the tying run on first base in the bottom of the eighth, junior catcher
Paul Williams hit a ball in between the pitcher's mound, first base and second base. WVWC's Chris Metrick hustled off the mound, scooped up the ball and won a footrace to the first base bag, with he and Williams both diving head first into the bag, for the game's final out.
Divers, Neff and Simmons each had two RBI. Freshman outfielder
Ryan Fralin recorded three hits. Each CU starter had at least one hit.
Redshirt freshman pitcher
Cody Dooley (1-1) was charged with the loss in relief giving up two unearned runs.
Freshman pitcher
Joseph Lowder tossed the first 4.2 innings for CU.
Game 2: Concord 17 – West Virginia Wesleyan 2
The Mountain Lions scored six runs in their first two at-bats and tallied 23 hits to insure a split with West Virginia Wesleyan.
Three different players, Clark, Frazier and Wiersma, each notched an RBI hit in the first while Wiersma lifted his sixth home run of the season over the right field fence in the second for two of the three runs in the frame.
WVWC climbed back in the game with a run in both the fourth and fifth innings, but Concord answered right back with two scores in the bottom of the fifth and put up eight runs in the sixth.
Senior pitcher
Nate Werner improved to 4-1 as he scattered eight hits and two runs in his first complete game of the season. Werner struck four batters as he moved into a tie for 10
th in all-time wins at Concord with 14.
Eight Concord players had multi-hit games led by Fralin and sophomore outfielder Evan Web with four hits each.
Webb, Wiersma and Williams each had three RBI in the game.
The nightcap on Saturday marked the sixth time this season the Mountain Lions have had 15 or more hits in a game this season.
Additionally, the 55 runs that Concord scored in the four-game set with West Virginia Wesleyan was the most in a four-game series since tallying 66 against Bluefield State in April 2013.
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