Concord Set for First Round Tournament Game Against Shepherd

Concord Stats - Shepherd Stats - Live Stats - MEC Tournament Central

ATHENS, W.Va-  The Concord University softball team prepares for a rematch with Shepherd at the Mountain East Conference Tournament at the Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, Virginia at 2:30 p.m. before returning to action at 7:30 p.m. against either Notre Dame or UVa.-Wise.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
The Mountain East Confererence will provide live statistics throughout the tournament. Additionally, select games will have live audio play-by-play. To access the live coverage, follow the links at the top of the page or click here.

RECORDS
The Mountain Lions enter the matchup at 28-26.
 
Concord is ranked eighth in the latest release of the NCAA Atlantic Regional rankings. 
 
The Rams are ranked fourth after winning three out its last four contests, including a sweep of now #5 ranked Charleston. 

Shepherd is 35-18 overall. 

MOUNTAIN LION NOTES
Concord secured a date with Shepherd after finishing fourth in the Mountain East Conference's Southern Division. 

The Rams finished first in the northern division.

CU eliminated Shepherd on the second day of last season's Mountain East Conference Tournament in a 7-2 win. 

Sophomore pitcher/outfielder Abby Beatty picked up her ninth win of the season in the circle, tossing a complete game while giving up just one earned run and striking out five batters. 

The Roanoke, Virginia native, playing just outside of her hometown in Troutville, also helped her cause in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 while driving in three RBI. 

Beatty drove in the eventual go-ahead run on a fielder's choice in the top of the sixth inning, before adding two more insurance runs in the seventh on a single up the middle that scored junior third baseman Alycea Watson and senior outfielder Lauren Lewis for Concord's sixth and seventh runs of the game. 

The Mountain Lions also won their opening game of the tournament against Wheeling Jesuit, winning 6-0 in the first game of the tournament. 

Senior shortstop Alayna Furr, Lewis, and Watson each tallied hits, with Watson going 2-for-4 from the plate with two RBI. 

Sophomore pitcher/utility Aarron Ward was the winning pitcher for that game for the Mountain Lions, pitching five innings of relief while allowing just four hits. 

Furr was named to the All-Mountain East Conference first team after hitting .397 for the season, surpassing her 74 total hits from 2016. 

The Lovettsville, Virginia native finished fourth in the MEC in batting average and first in total hits while starting all 54 games at shortstop for CU.

Furr was also excellent in the field, notching the second-most amount of assists behind Watson in the conference while maintaining .947 fielding percentage. 

Concord swept the Rams in Athens this season in a pair of one-run victories, 3-2 and 5-4. 

In game one, Beatty posted a career-high four hits while accounting for all three of Concord's runs driven in at the plate. 

None of Beatty's hits were bigger than her single up the middle that scored Furr in the bottom of the seventh to break a 2-2 tie and give CU a 3-2 walk-off win, her third walk-off hit of the season.    

Furr scored all three runs for CU after going 2-for-3 in the batter's box. 

Senior pitcher Allie Reid tossed a complete game, allowing just four hits while striking out two Ram batters.   

In game two, Reid, this time at the plate, mashed two hits and drove in two runs to help Concord win 5-4. 

Reid's double to right center in the bottom of the fifth that scored Lewis proved to be the eventual go-ahead run.         

Also picking up RBI in game two was freshman second baseman/shortstop Jenna Witt, and sophomore outfielder Lindsey Stahl. 

Senior pitcher Sarah Herndon won her third game of the season in the circle, allowing just two hits in 2.1 innings of relief. 
 
The Mountain Lions have won at least two games in each of the last two conference tournaments, including advancing to the loser's bracket final the last time the tournament was in Salem in 2015.

Last season, Beatty was named to the All-MEC Tournament Team after notching five hits and five RBI in four games in addition to her performacne in the circle for CU.

SCOUTING SHEPHERD
The Rams have gone 12-4 since the two teams last faced each other on April 13.

Alexandra Witt, the sister of Concord's Jenna Witt, is second in the conference in on base percentage at .489. 

Witt went 4-for-6 at the plate while driving in three runs in the two games against Concord earlier this season.  

Kaitlyn Konopka is hitting .372 this season while driving in 28 runs. 

Connor Gilligan has added 41 RBI for the Rams. 

Both Witt and Konopka were named first team All-MEC performers for the 2017 season.. 

Pitcher Tara Hanson, the most recent Mountain East Conference pitcher of the week, has an 18-5 record with a 2.07 ERA. 

SU was 8-4 in neutral site games this season.