Concord Starts Conference Play at Charleston, West Virginia State

Concord Stats - Charleston Stats - West Virginia State Stats - Live Stats - Live Video 

ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University softball team opens up the Mountain East Conference portion of its schedule with two road doubleheaders 2:00 p.m. Saturday against Charleston and 2:00 p.m. Sunday at West Virginia State.

LIVE COVERAGE
Stats: Both the Charleston and West Virginia State Sports Information Departments will provide live in-game statists of the four games
Video: Live streaming video is available for the weekend road contests.

RECORDS
The Mountain Lions are 0-6 this season.

Charleston has put together a mark of 7-3.

West Virginia State is 3-5 in 2021.

SISTER ACT
Junior outfielder/pitcher Laura Thompson starts the weekend with a batting average of .529 which is the best in the MEC. Thompson is 9-for-17 to start the season, and going back to the final four games of the shortened 2020 season, she is batting .551 (16-for-29). Meanwhile, junior third baseman/outfielder Sarah Thompson is batting .379 (11-for-29) in her last 10 games. Together, the Thompsons have combined for six RBI and seven extra-base hits in their last 10 games. As a freshman in 2019, L. Thompson hit .388 (14-for-38) in 10 games against Charleston and West Virginia State with 14 runs scored.

HOMECOMING
Senior pitcher/outfielder Cartney Schoolcraft is from Winfield, West Virginia—less than 20 miles from West Virginia State's campus. And Schoolcraft has found success against the Yellow Jackets in her career as she tossed 16 career innings. Over those 16 innings, Schoolcraft has 13 strikeouts. She was also responsible for two wins and a save against the Yellow Jackets during the 2019 season. In her first career start against Charleston, the Winfield, West Virginia native recorded her first career 10-strikeout game as she struck out 10 in a complete game versus UC March 17, 2019. Schoolcraft is just seven strikeouts away from moving into the top three in program history in punch outs as she currently has 218.

THE ELIMINATOR
Saturday and Sunday will be the first time Concord squares off with Charleston and West Virginia State since the 2019 MEC Tournament when the Mountain Lions eliminated both teams from postseason play. CU took down Charleston, 12-2, in an elimination game as four different players had at least four hits, led by three hits from senior outfielder Dani Bloomingdale. Thompson and senior utility Jenna Witt each had two hits. In a bid to make the 2019 MEC Championship Game, Concord outlasted West Virginia State, 7-4, in eight innings. Senior outfielder/pitcher Darby Fitzpatrick collected two hits in that particular contest including a go-ahead RBI double in extra innings.

CHARLESTON AT A GLANCE
The Golden Eagles most recently split two low-scoring games with Cedarville in non-conference action Tuesday. Danielle Bauer tossed a complete game two hitter with 18 strikeouts at Cedarville. Over the last two seasons, Bauer has 147 strikeouts in 87 innings. Megan Eder has 11 RBI through 10 games, and is batting .333. Charleston was nationally-ranked and 14-2 in 2020 before the season was canceled.

WEST VIRGINIA STATE AT A GLANCE
WVSU swept a doubleheader from former MEC member UVa.-Wise to inch closer back to .500. Kasey Murphy and Lindsey Phares have combined for three home runs and 11 RBI in eight games. West Virginia State is batting a respectable .284 this season, but is allowing the opponent to hit .325. The sweep over UVa.-Wise snapped a four-game losing streak for the Yellow Jackets.