Concord Ends Season at MEC Tournament

SALEM, W.Va. – The Concord University softball team was eliminated from the Mountain East Conference Tournament Friday afternoon as it dropped games to Frostburg State, 6-4, and Notre Dame, 5-1.

Concord finishes the season at 17-21 overall.

Game 1: Frostburg State 6 – Concord 4
CU was unable to erase a 6-0 deficit midway through the game as it faced elimination later in the day.

Frostburg State broke a scoreless game in the fourth with four runs and tacked on two more runs in the fifth to go up 6-0.

Unfazed by the Bobcats' rally in back-to-back innings, Concord pieced together four runs in the sixth inning. The first two batters of the sixth reached for the Mountain Lions including senior outfielder/pitcher Darby Fitzpatrick breaking up a no-hit bid by FSU's Shawna Leonard.

Two batters later, junior third baseman/outfielder Sarah Thompson brought in CU's first run of the game as Fitzpatrick crossed. Senior utility Jenna Witt followed suit with a sacrifice fly before senior catcher/third baseman Lauren Richardson plated a run with a base hit. Sophomore catcher/outfielder Jolie Privett came through with an RBI double to bring the tying run to the plate.

However, Frostburg State was able to escape the rally with the tying run at the plate.

A leadoff walk in the seventh got the tying run to the plate, but the Mountain Lions were unable to threaten the FSU lead.

Privett, Richardson and Thompson were all 1-for-3 with an RBI. Witt had an RBI and a walk with just one official at-bat.

Junior pitcher/outfielder Laura Thompson (8-9) was tagged with the loss as she struck out seven and allowed six runs. Thompson went over 200 career strikeouts in the contest.

Game 2: Notre Dame 5 – Concord 1
Notre Dame's back-to-back two run innings in the middle part of the game was the difference in the elimination contest.

Notre Dame raced out to a 5-0 lead as it scored two runs in each the fourth and fifth and added another in the sixth.

After the Falcons plated two runs in the fifth to go up 4-0, Concord threatened with two outs. S. Thompson walked to keep the inning alive before Witt singled, and advanced to second to put two runners in scoring position.

But, NDC's Maria Payne made a diving catch in right field to rob Concord of a pair of runs. A leadoff error came around to score in the sixth for CU as Fitzpatrick plated a run to cut the deficit to 5-1. The Mountain Lions would only get one base runner for the remainder of the game.

The Thompson sisters each had one hit and walked once each. Witt added a hit in her final collegiate game as she finishes her career with 255 career hits.

The fifth-year seniors for Concord, Fitzpatrick and Witt, combined to play in 394 games.

Five other seniors, outfielder Dani Bloomingdale, outfielder Hanna Hylton, Richardson, pitcher/outfielder Cartney Schoolcraft and senior catcher/utility Kaitlyn Stewart will have the option to return next season. Schoolcraft is CU's all-time strikeout leader with 285.