Concord Gets 2021 Season Underway at Wingate

Concord Stats - Wingate Stats - Live Stats - Live Video

ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University softball team opens the 2021 season with a doubleheader at Wingate 12:00 p.m. Wednesday.

LIVE COVERAGE
Stats: The Wingate Sports Information Department will provide live in-game statistics of Wednesday's doubleheader.
Video: Live streaming will also be available for tomorrow's doubleheader

RECORDS
The Mountain Lions finished the shortened 2020 season with a mark of 8-6-1.

Wingate has been able to play four games early in the season, splitting them at 2-2.

BUSTING OUT THE BATS
In the last seven games of the 2020 season, Concord hit nine home runs including smashing four in a win over Malone March 8. Senior outfielder/pitcher Darby Fitzpatrick and senior utility Jenna Witt were responsible for two of the home runs against Malone. Additionally, Witt hit three home runs March 7 against Upper Iowa which is the program record for homers in a single game. Witt hit seven home runs and drove 15 runs in the 15-game 2020 season.  Witt starts her final year in the Maroon and Gray needing 30 hits to become the all-time hits leader at CU—she currently has 206 hits.

ON A HIGH NOTE
Junior pitcher/outfielder Laura Thompson struck out a program-record 13 batters against Bemidji State in her final start of 2020. Overall, Thompson allowed just five earned runs in 25.1 innings while striking 39 batters, including a separate 12-strikeout performance against King to open the season. At the plate, Thompson was 7-for-12 in her final four games as her average rose from .250 to .333 to finish the season. Junior third baseman/outfielder Sarah Thompson also had a strong finish to 2020 as she collected five multi-hit games in the last seven contests to finish second on the team in batting average at .356.

THREES COMPANY
Sophomore pitcher/outfielder Josie Brewer, senior pitcher/outfielder Cartney Schoolcraft and L. Thompson combined to throw 86.2 innings of the 96 innings for CU's pitching staff last season. Schoolcraft punched out 46 hitters in 32 innings as she went over 200 career strikeouts in just under 180 career innings. Schoolcraft ranks fifth in all-time strikeouts at Concord with 211. Thompson is eighth with 106. As for Brewer, she was stellar in her first season with an ERA of 2.15 in 29.1 innings. The Pulaksi, Virginia native's best outing of 2020 was her last as she allowed just one run in six innings against Post, but was the tough-luck loser in a 1-0 defeat.

FIRST TIME
According to the Concord record books, Wednesday will be the first meeting between the Mountain Lions and Wingate since CU became a Division II school prior to the 1994-95 academic year. The doubleheader for the Maroon and Gray will be a homecoming for two Concord players from North Carolina. Sophomore catcher/outfielder Jolie Privett—native of Lexington—grew up just under 100 miles from the Charlotte suburb of Wingate. Meanwhile, freshmen utility Madeline Shore—native of Walnut Cove—grew up approximately 125 miles from Wingate's campus.

WINGATE AT A GLANCE
The Bulldogs started the season with a split against Barton before being involved in two close games with Augusta. Wingate won the first one 2-0 before falling to the Jaguars, 4-1. Sydney Kale has recorded 15 strikeouts in 10 innings, and is responsible for both WU wins. As a team, the Bulldogs are hitting just .230, but Alyssa Hall has four hits in her first 10 at-bats of the season with a double and two RBI. Wingate was 13-9 in the shortened 2020 campaign. Two seasons ago, the Bulldogs were 32-19, and like Concord, made the NCAA Tournament.