Concord Opens NCAA Tournament Play Versus Shepherd

Concord Stats - Shepherd Stats - Tournament Central - Live Stats - Live Video

ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University softball team will travel to West Liberty 2:30 p.m. Thursday to face the Shepherd Rams for a fourth time this season when the two teams open up NCAA Tournament play. 

LIVE COVERAGE
Stats: Live in-game statistics will be provided by the West Liberty Sports Information Department.
Video: The West Liberty Sports Information Department will also provide live video streaming for the contest.

RECORDS
CU has etched a 38-19 overall record for the season with a 22-10 MEC record.

Shepherd holds an overall record of 38-16 with a MEC record of 23-9 for the season.

WELCOME BACK
CU will making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2015 when it takes on the Rams Thursday afternoon. A few things are similar to that season that are equivalent to the 2019 Mountain Lions. On Wednesday, Concord had the left-side infield pair of senior utility Kylie Kent and junior utility Jenna Witt named to the D2CCA All-Atlantic Region Team. The only other time the Mountain Lions had two or more players named all-region was in 2015. Also during the 2015 season, a Mountain East Conference school hosted the regional--West Virginia Wesleyan. 

RARE COMPANY
Witt has already eclipsed 70 hits this season as she has 73 hits in 2019. Freshman pitcher/outfielder Laura Thompson has 69 hits while Kent has notched 68 hits this season. Only one other team has three players with at least 70 hits this season, St. Cloud State. Witt is closing in on the single-season record for hits with the current mark of 80. Thompson has already broke the single-season for runs scored with 64. 

QUICK TURNAROUND
The Mountain Lions and Shepherd will meet for the second time in less than a week after Concord eliminated the Rams from the Mountain East Conference Tournament last weekend with Thompson tossing her first complete-game shutout in a 2-0 win. Senior catcher/first baseman Lauren Blunt and Kent each had a RBI groundout for the lone CU runs of the game. 

CU'S PITCHING PAIR
Concord has a 2-1 season series edge on the Rams with CU winning the last two games. Sophomore pitcher Cartney Schoolcraft gave up just a single run in mid-April against the Rams when Concord won 2-1 after Thompson doubled to center field during the bottom of the seventh inning for the walk-off win. In the same game, Schoolcraft struck out nine batters. Over the last two starts against SU, Schoolcraft and Thompson have combined to go 14 innings, only allowing eight hits and an earned runs while striking out 12. 

FEELING RIGHT AT HOME
While Thursday's game will be a neutral contest, the Mountain Lions have success on West Liberty's home field. Earlier this season, Concord split a doubleheader with the Hilltoppers and won both games at the Hilltopper Softball Complex. Senior outfielder Abby Beatty is a career .444 hitter at West Liberty (4-for-9) with four RBI. In her only start at WLU, Schoolcraft struck out a career-high 11 during the first week of April. 

SHEPHERD AT A GLANCE
Both Lori Sturgill and Taylor Stocks are leading Shepherd with low earned run averages. Sturgill has an ERA of 1.25 while Stocks, the MEC Pitcher of the Year is just behind with an ERA of 1.71. Sturgill leads the MEC with her ERA while Stocks is ranked below in the top five. While Stocks has 178 total strikeouts for the season and is ranked second in the conference, Schoolcraft leads over her with a total of 180 strikeouts.