ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University softball team took a pair of one-run games from Salem, 4-3 and 3-2, Wednesday afternoon in non-conference play at the CU Softball Field.
Concord improves to 5-2-1 on the year while SU is now level at 3-3.
Game 1: Concord 4 – Salem 3
The Mountain Lions used a three-run fifth inning to rally past Salem after trailing for over half the game.
The Tigers broke a scoreless tie in the second with two runs and added a third in the third inning to go up 3-0 on CU.
Salem's Christine Bombardiere kept Concord off the board until the fourth inning when junior catcher/utility
Kaitlyn Stewart brought in sophomore utility
Skylar Jenkins with a sacrifice fly after Jenkins had tripled to lead off the frame.
Trailing 3-1 into the fifth, senior pitcher/outfielder
Darby Fitzpatrick started a Concord rally with a pinch-hit, leadoff single before sophomore pitcher/outfielder
Laura Thompson and sophomore utility
Sarah Thompson drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Senior utility
Jenna Witt, then, drove a ball to deep center field that brought in two runs to even the game.
Jenkins followed with a single back through the middle to score S. Thompson and give CU a 4-3 advantage.
Junior pitcher/outfielder
Cartney Schoolcraft kept Salem off the board in the sixth and seventh innings to give CU the one-run victory.
After entering in the fifth inning in relief, Schoolcraft retired all nine Tigers she faced, striking out eight of them to move to 2-0 on the season. Sophomore pitcher
Tori Hanes started the game as she allowed three runs and struck out two over four innings.
Jenkins and L. Thompson each finished the game with two hits and a run scored. Witt had two RBI.
Game 2: Concord 3 – Salem 2
Freshman catcher/outfielder
Jolie Privett's sixth-inning sacrifice fly proved to be the difference as Concord won its second straight one-run game over SU.
The Mountain Lions jumped out to a quick lead with two first-inning runs. Witt doubled home L. Thompson for the first run before scoring herself on a Privett two-out RBI single.
From there, freshman pitcher/outfielder
Josie Brewer kept the Tigers off the board over the first four innings. However, Salem rallied to tie the game in the fifth on two unearned runs to square the contest at 2-2.
In the sixth, a one-out single from Jenkins resulted in a two-base error on SU. After the initial hit, Salem threw the ball out of play alongside the first base dugout, and Jenkins was awarded third base. During the next at-bat, Privett popped a fly ball into medium-depth left field that allowed Jenkins to score the decisive run in the game.
L. Thompson pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning with two strikeouts to preserve the win.
Brewer scattered five hits and struck out three in five innings, but L. Thompson (1-1) got the win in relief as she gave up one hit and struck out two in two innings.
Five different players accounted for the Concord's hits while Privett notched her first career multi-RBI game.
The next games for CU will be in the Florida PFX Tournament in Winter Haven, Florida March 7-10. The first opponent for Concord is Upper Iowa 4:00 p.m. March 7.
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