WHEELING, W.Va. – The Concord University baseball team split the first Mountain East Conference games of the season, falling 16-1 at Wheeling before rebounding for a 7-5 win at the JB Chambers Complex.
Concord is 10-5-1 this season while Wheeling is now 5-12 this spring.
Game 1: Wheeling 16 – Concord 1
Concord fell behind 8-0 after two innings and was never able to recover as the Cardinals won the first game.
Wheeling plated a run in the first inning, but sophomore pitcher
Eddie Blake limited the damage by stranding two runners with a swinging strikeout to end the frame. WU was able to get seven runs in the second inning to open up a comfortable margin.
The lone run for the Mountain Lions came on an RBI single from freshman catcher
Joey Duffer in the fourth as sophomore catcher/infielder
Chris Satcher came around to score.
Junior outfielder
Kyle Keenan finished game one 3-for-3. Blake (3-1) gave up five earned runs in 1.1 innings as he recorded two strikeouts.
Game 2: Concord 7 – Wheeling 5 (Eight Innings)
Fifth-year senior infielder
Anthony Stehlin's two-run single in the top of the eighth was the difference as the Mountain Lions gained a split with WU.
Concord let a 5-3 lead slip away late as Wheeling scored once each in the sixth and seventh to force extra innings.
Junior outfielder
Richard Ortiz ignited the rally in the eighth with an infield single. Back-to-back one-out walks loaded the bases for Stehlin to step up and knock a base hit into left center field that brought in Ortiz and freshman infielder/pitcher
MJ Hunter.
Stehlin came on in relief in the seventh, but was able to shut the door on the Cardinals in the bottom of the eighth as Wheeling was only able to get a one-out walk.
With the game tied 2-2 after three innings, Concord broke the deadlock with a three-run fourth inning. Satcher led off the frame with his third home run of the season. Later in the frame, Stehlin and Keenan had back-to-back two-out scoring hits.
The first two runs for the Mountain Lions came with two outs as junior infielder
Juan Fortique had an RBI base hit in the first and sophomore infielder
Zack Saryeldin had a run-scoring hit in the second.
Freshman pitcher
Jacob Nester did not factor in the decision, but struck out six in five innings as he gave up four runs on four hits. Stehlin (1-0) struck out two in two innings and gave up one unearned run.
Stehlin also paced the CU offense by going to 2-for-4 with three RBI. At the top of the order, Saryeldin, Stehlin and Keenan all had two hits. Ortiz added three hits and two runs scored from the seventh spot.
Concord continues its MEC road trip 1:00 p.m. Monday against West Liberty in a doubleheader. Â
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