Concord Stats -
Wheeling Stats -
West Liberty Stats -
Live Stats -
Live VideoÂ
ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University baseball team opens up Mountain East Conference play 1:00 p.m. Monday against Wheeling before also hosting West Liberty 1:00 p.m. Tuesday in a pair of doubleheaders at Anderson Field.
LIVE COVERAGE
Stats: The Concord University Sports Information Department will have live in-game statistics for all four games.
Video: Live streaming video will also be available for Monday and Tuesday's games.
RECORDS
The Mountain Lions are in search of their first win of the season at 0-3.
Wheeling is 4-3 on the season after a win over Salem March 17.
West Liberty enters the start of the week with a mark of 3-6.
STRONG STARTING PITCHING
Junior pitcher
Dan Nicholls and senior pitcher
Trent Abernathy were the first two starting pitchers of the season for Concord on March 5 against Wheeling—in a non-conference contest—and Salem. The duo combined for 21 strikeouts in 13 innings. Nicholls received a no-decision in his start while Abernathy was a tough luck loser against Salem. Both right handers set career highs in strikeouts as Nicholls punched out nine Wheeling batters in six innings. Abernathy had his second career double-digit strikeout game with 12 strikeouts. In two career starters against Wheeling, Abernathy has 17 strikeouts in 11.2 innings while allowing just two earned runs.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
In his first three career starts, freshman infielder
Zack Saryeldin went 4-for-10 with a team-best four RBI through three games to go with his first career home run in game two against Salem. Saryeldin drew three walks in the weekend series against Wheeling and Salem, and only struck out three times. Out of the bullpen, freshman pitcher
Eddy Castellanos and struck out two batters in his first career inning of relief. Meanwhile, junior pitcher
Arik Sypher, a Post University transfer, struck out four of the six batters he faced in his 1.2 innings of work. Behind the work of Abernathy and Nicholls, and the stellar bullpen, CU's team ERA of 3.91 is just outside the top 40 in all of Division II.
BREAKING OUT THE BROOMS
The last time Concord played Wheeling and West Liberty it split with both teams on the road in mid-March of 2019. However, the last time CU welcomed the two teams from West Virginia's northern panhandle, the Maroon and Gray swept both teams in four low-scoring game March 18-19, 2018. The lone active Concord position player that was in the lineup for the games in 2018 was senior infielder
Anthony Stehlin who went 2-for-4 in the first three games. Stehlin was the starting pitcher for game two against West Liberty as he tossed six innings before getting a no-decision in a 6-5 extra innings walk-off win for Concord. The Mountain Lions defeated Wheeling, 3-1 in the both games, and took game one, 3-0, over WLU in 2018. In 2019, Stehlin went 7-for-14 with seven runs scored against Wheeling and West Liberty.
WHEELING AT A GLANCE
Wheeling's two and three hitters—Riley Cameron and Connor Watt—went a combined 4-for-10 against Concord in the CU's season opener. Cameron leads the Cardinals in batting average (.467) and RBI (seven) this season. The Cardinals are hitting just .255 as a team, but the pitching staff has been stellar, allowing opponents to hit just .235. Logan Pillars who started against CU earlier this season has 10 strikeouts in nine innings. Nick Luciano has seven strikeouts out of the bullpen in five innings.
WEST LIBERTY AT A GLANCE
 The Hilltoppers split a four-game series with Pitt-Johnstown to earn their first two wins of the season March 7. West Liberty opened MEC play Saturday afternoon by going 1-1 at Glenville State. Jason Schutte led the offense in an 11-4 game one victory by hitting a grand slam. Kaden Bloomquist had four hits. In game two, West Liberty's bats were quieted as GSC won, 11-0. Justin Pennybacker has tossed a team-high nine innings and has an ERA of 1.00 in two appearances.
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