INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The Concord University baseball team split the final two games of its series with West Virginia State as WVSU took game one, 10-7, before Concord grabbed the nightcap, 12-4, at Cal Bailey in Mountain East Conference action Friday afternoon.
The Mountain Lions are 15-13 in 2018 and 9-7 against MEC opponents. West Virginia State, meanwhile, is 17-12 overall and 8-8 in the conference.
Game 1: West Virginia State 10 – Concord 7
WVSU rallied from a 7-3 deficit in the sixth as it scored seven runs to take game one by three.
Concord scored the game's first five runs.
Junior infielder
Brett Simmons sent a home run out to left field that scored senior outfielder
Oscar Garcia and gave CU a 2-0 lead in the second. In the third, junior infielder
Trevor Wiersma doubled home a run before Garcia plated two with his own two-base hit that extended the Concord advantaged to 5-0.
West Virginia State responded with three of its own runs in the bottom of the third before Garcia added an insurance run in the fifth, and senior catcher
Paul Williams tallied an RBI single in the top of the sixth.
Junior pitcher
Will Guay recorded two quick outs in the bottom of the inning, but the Yellow Jackets rallied for seven runs on just three hits to take a 10-7 edge.
Concord was only able to get one batter aboard in the seventh as WVSU held on for the win.
Garcia tied his career best with three hits while sophomore outfielder
Adam Linkous also added three base knocks. Garcia had three RBI while Simmons added two RBI. Webb and Williams each had two hits.
Sophomore pitcher
Bryson Booher (0-1) was charged with the loss in relief. All 10 of WVSU's runs were unearned.
Game 2: Concord 12 – West Virginia State 4
Concord scored the final 10 runs of the game as it erased an early 4-2 deficit to earn the split.
Webb got the Mountain Lions going in the first inning with a two-run double, but West Virginia State came right back with four scores in the bottom of the frame.
An RBI base hit from senior infielder
Chad Frazier and an error allowed two CU runs to cross the plate in the second and deadlock the contest at 4-4 through 1.5 innings.
The contest remained tied until the fourth when Webb smacked a two-run home run that brought in Linkous and gave CU a two-run edge. Simmons added a home run in the next inning, his second of the twinbill, pushing Concord's lead to 7-4.
Up three in the seventh, the Mountain Lions plated five runs. Frazier had a bases-loaded single for two RBI in the frame, and sophomore infielder
Nathan Neff and Simmons each notched an RBI during the rally.
Sophomore pitcher
Trent Abernathy finished one strikeout shy of his career high as he fanned eight batters over seven innings. Abernathy improved to 3-0 this season.
Webb recorded three hits and four RBI in the nightcap. The Whitby, Ontario native finished the doubleheader 5-for-8 with four runs scored, a home run, four RBI and two doubles.
Linkous also had three hits while adding three runs scored. Frazier recorded two hits and three RBI. Neff had two hits and two runs scored in the ninth spot of CU's order.
The Mountain Lions welcome Winston-Salem State for a non-conference contest 2:00 p.m. Wednesday at Anderson Field.
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