ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University baseball team was unable to rally from a 4-0 deficit as Bluefield State won 4-3 Saturday afternoon in a non-conference battle at Anderson Field.
A pitching duel broke out between Concord's sophomore hurler
Andrew Neff and BSC's southpaw Jacob Matheney.
Bluefield State (6-7) got a two-out single in the second to score the game's first run. However, Neff retired BSC in order in the third and left the bases loaded in the fourth as he piled up three strikeouts in those two innings.
The Big Blues struck for three runs in the fifth, all unearned, to go up 4-0 on Concord (1-2-1). Neff again faced the minimum in the sixth and retired the side in order in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.
The Mountain Lions were finally able to back up Neff's strong start with two runs in the sixth. Back-to-back two-out run scoring hits from junior outfielder
Josh Adkins and sophomore infielder
Zack Saryeldin brought around junior outfielder
Kyle Keenan and freshman catcher
Joey Duffer, respectively.
After Neff got CU back to the bat rack quickly for the bottom of the ninth, the Mountain Lions put together a rally. Saryeldin led off the frame and came around to score on a two-out single by sophomore infielder
Michael Dupont. With Dupont representing the game-winning run as the trail runner at first base, BSC induced a fly out to right field to end the game.
Neff (0-2) finished the afternoon retiring the final 10 batters he faced as he tossed his first career nine-inning complete game. He struck out a single-game program record 13 as he yielded just one walk and three of the four runs he allowed were unearned.
Saryeldin was 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI. Fifth-year senior infielder
Anthony Stehlin stole two bases in the game.
CU returns the game to Bluefield State 3:00 p.m. Sunday when the teams play at Bowen Field in Bluefield, Virginia.
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