ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University baseball team dropped a pair of games to Wheeling, 8-5 and 13-6, Monday afternoon in Mountain East Conference action at Anderson Field.
Game 1: Wheeling 8 – Concord 5 (Nine Innings)
Concord (0-5) was unable to hold onto a 5-1 lead it built early in the game as Wheeling (7-4) forced extra innings.
Both teams scored in the second inning before the Mountain Lions grabbed a 2-1 lead in the third  by taking advantage of two WU errors in the frame.
Holding on to the slim margin, Concord plated three runs in the fourth inning as junior catcher
Chance Davis, sophomore infielder
Juan Fortique and junior infielder
Anthony Stehlin all had run-scoring hits in the frame that saw the rally begin with a double from freshman utility
Eddie Blake.
Senior pitcher
Trent Abernathy was able to retire the Cardinals in order in the fifth which was his final full inning of work as he come out of the game after two batters in the sixth.
Once Abernathy was pulled, Wheeling scored two more runs—in addition to the one it got off Abernathy –to trim the CU lead to 5-4.
Down to their last out, the Cardinals tied the game with a solo home run in the seventh inning to force extra inning. Both teams went scoreless in the eighth, but WU scratched across three runs in the ninth to win.
Abernathy allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits while striking out nine. CU had 11 hits in the contest with the 4-7 hitters of Fortique, junior infielder
Evan Antonellis, freshman infielder
Michael Dupont and Blake combining to go 8-for-17.
Game 2: Wheeling 13 – Concord 6
Wheeling scored at least one run in each of the final six innings to win the nightcap.
The Cardinals jumped up 3-0 after the top of the third, but the Mountain Lions had an answer with a five-run frame in the bottom of the inning.
Four consecutive walks by Wheeling got Concord on the board in the contest before a sacrifice fly, and a Fortique single tied the game. Freshman infielder
Zack Saryeldin, who drew a bases-loaded walk earlier in the inning, scored on a wild pitch, and Blake capped the rally with a base knock into left center field that plated Fortique.
The Concord lead was short lived as Wheeling responded with three runs to take the lead for good.
Antonellis followed up his two-hit game with three hits in the nightcap including his first career home run, a solo shot in the fifth inning.
Senior pitcher
Spencer Hoyt was the pitcher of record as he allowed six runs in 3.1 innings.
Concord continues its homestand when it welcomes West Liberty to Anderson Field 1:00 p.m. Tuesday.
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