Concord Goes 1-1 on First Day of MEC Tournament

SALEM, Va.- The Concord University softball team went 1-1 on the opening day of the Mountain East Conference Softball Tournament after dropping its first game to Shepherd 8-6, before eliminating Notre Dame College 1-0.   
 
Concord is 29-27 after the two contests. Shepherd improves to 36-19 after the first day of contests. Notre Dame ends its season at 23-30. 
 
Game 1: Shepherd 8 – Concord 6
Concord was unable to complete a late comeback as Shepherd held on for a two-run victory.
 
The Rams jumped to a 2-0 lead after back-to-back singles with runners on second in the bottom of the first inning. 
 
Concord scored its first run of the game in the top of the second, after senior outfielder Lauren Lewis sprinted home on an error by the Rams in the outfield. 
 
Shepherd responded in the bottom of the frame with four more runs to take a 6-1 lead. 
 
However, Concord cut the SU lead to three after sophomore outfielder/pitcher Abby Beatty homered to left field to score freshman first baseman/pitcher Rachel Pritchard, who singled one batter earlier. 
 
Shepherd pushed its lead back to five after scoring two more runs in the bottom of the third inning to make the score 8-3. 
 
Concord once again rallied in the top of the fifth after Lewis was hit by a pitch with two outs. Senior pitcher Allie Reid doubled down the left field line to score Lewis and senior shortstop Alayna Furr, who led off the inning with a single. 
 
Sophomore outfielder Lindsey Stahl then singled to shortstop to score junior outfielder/catcher Chelsea Shepherd, who pinch ran for Reid and touched home from second after a throwing error by the Rams. 
 
The Mountain Lions had the best chance to tie the game in the top of the sixth after junior third baseman Alycea Watson doubled down the right field line with one out. 
 
But, Concord could not scratch across any more runs as it fell by two runs.
 
Lewis and Stahl each picked up two hits, with Beatty and Reid each nabbing two RBI in the defeat. Stahl tallied Concord's other RBI of the day. 
 
Game 2: Concord 1 – Notre Dame 0
Senior pitcher Sarah Herndon twirled a shutout in the circle, and Beatty came up with a clutch two-out hit in the sixth inning as CU staved off elimination.
 
The Falcons early on had two runners on first and second with two outs in the top of the first,however, Herndon worked her way out of the early spot of trouble by inducing a pop up to Alycea Watson to end the inning. 
 
The two teams combined to pick up just four more hits through the next five innings, with NDC leaving two runners on first and second once again with two outs in the fifth.  However, Herndon once again worked her way out of the potential jam after forcing another pop out by the Falcons. 
 
Concord finally broke the stalemate in the sixth inning after Herndon, this time with the bat on her shoulder, singled to right field to lead off the inning. Junior outfielder Chelsea Shepherd then advanced to second as a pinch runner for Herndon on an error by the Falcons. 
 
A sacrifice bunt by Furr moved Shepherd to third with one out in the inning.  After a fly out to left field to put two outs in the inning, Beatty stepped up to the plate and plated Shepherd on a single to left center to score Shepherd and give CU a 1-0 lead.  
 
The Falcons threatened to tie the game in the top of the seventh, with the Falcons placing a runner on second base after a sacrifice bunt. 
 
Herndon held off the Falcon comeback after Lewis tracked down a fly ball to right center before Furr caught the final out on a pop out to give CU a 1-0 win and ensure an elimination game with Charleston on Saturday at 12:00 p.m.
 
The two teams combined for six hits, with three apiece for each school. Tallying hits for CU were Beatty, Lewis, and Herndon. 
 
Herndon pitched a complete game, while allowing the aforementioned three hits and striking out five batters in the shutout victory.