ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University baseball team finished off a three-game sweep of Ohio Valley Monday afternoon at Anderson Field by winning 4-2 and 8-4 in two non-conference games.
The Mountain Lions have won five of their first six games of the season while OVU falls to 0-11.
Game 1: Concord 4 – Ohio Valley 2
CU erased a 2-1 deficit with a three-run fifth inning as it went on to hold off the Fighting Scots in their final at-bat.
Trailing 1-0 heading to the bottom of the fourth, junior outfielder
Ryan Fralin bounced a single through the right side to knot the game as fellow junior outfielder
Adam Linkous sped home.
In the next half inning, Ohio Valley got its second sacrifice fly of the game to retake a 2-1 lead.
However, senior catcher
Jordan Clark drove a two-run double the other way—down the right field line—with one out to push CU ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth. Sophomore infielder
Anthony Stehlin and senior outfielder
Evan Webb, who had both drawn walks to start the rally, scored on Clark's double. Divers followed behind Clark with a run-scoring single.
Freshman pitcher
Sidney Willis authored a perfect sixth inning, handing the ball to Stehlin to save it in the seventh. With the bases loaded and one out, Stehlin struck out back-to-back batters to secure his first save of the season and earn senior pitcher
Troy Beckner (2-0) the win.
Beckner tossed the first five innings as he allowed two runs on four hits and struck out four.
Junior infielder
Nathan Neff led the way for the offense with two hits.
Game 2: Concord 8 – Ohio Valley 4
Stehlin accounted for more runs than OVU in the nightcap as helped CU not only get a sweep on Monday, but also a three-game sweep in the series.
Clark brought in a run in the first to push Concord ahead in the contest. Stehlin shot a double down the left-field line in the second to double the Mountain Lions' lead.
Two innings later, with the bases loaded, Fralin set a sacrifice fly into left field to score Neff. The drive allowed each runner to move up setting up Stehlin for a two-run single as the next batter.
In support of a 5-0 lead after four innings, sophomore pitcher
Logan Morrison tossed five innings of one-hit baseball while striking out three as he moved to 2-0 on the season.
With Concord six outs away from a sweep, the Fighting Scots plated four unearned runs in the top of the sixth inning to edge closer. However, Neff snared a line drive at third base to end the rally with the tying run 90 feet from scoring.
CU added to its slim lead in the bottom of the frame as Stehlin ripped his second double of the game to bring home freshman outfielder
Josh Adkins and Fralin. Clark was responsible for the game's final RBI as he brought home Stehlin three batters later on a line drive single to center field.
Linkous tossed a 1-2-3 seventh to preserve the win for Morrison and the Mountain Lions.
Five different players had two or more hits in the contest with Stehlin going 3-for-4 with two doubles and five RBI. Adkins and Fralin each scored two runs and had two hits in the victory.
Concord looks to push its win streak to six when it hosts Davis & Elkins 2:00 p.m. Wednesday.
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