ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University baseball team split Monday's doubleheader against West Virginia State as it won game one 9-2 before falling 7-2 in game two.
The Mountain Lions are now 20-12-1 overall and 9-7 in the MEC. WVSU is 14-14 this season and 6-8 against MEC foes.
Game 1: Concord 9 – West Virginia State 2
Concord broke a 2-2 tie with a six-run fifth inning to secure at least a series split.
The first two batters of the fifth inning reached via hit by pitch before junior outfielder
Kyle Keenan was safe on a bunt down the third base line. With the bases loaded, sophomore catcher/infielder
Chris Satcher cleared the bases with his first career grand slam. CU wasn't done in the frame, however.
Junior outfielder
Josh Adkins doubled before scoring on freshman infielder/pitcher
MJ Hunter's RBI single and the rally was capped by a sacrifice fly from fifth-year senior outfielder
Brandon Bayne to bring in Hunter.
The Mountain Lions got out to a 2-0 lead as they scored a run in each in the second and third innings. Hunter delivered a two-out, run-scoring hit in the second to start the scoring. And Keenan's single scored sophomore infielder
Zack Saryeldin in the bottom of the third after a leadoff double.
Adkins added an RBI single in the sixth.
Freshman pitcher
Jacob Nester limited the Yellow Jackets in the middle innings as the leadoff batter reached in the fourth, fifth and sixth frames, but WVSU was only able to plate two runs.
Nester (2-2) went six innings as he scattered two runs on seven hits and struck out three. Freshman pitcher
Justin Carden pitched a scoreless seventh to seal the victory.
Five different Mountain Lions had two hits in the game as part of CU's 11-hit performance. Adkins, sophomore outfielder
D.J. Christian and Satcher all had two hits and a double. Satcher knocked in four runs on the grand slam, and Hunter added two RBI.
Game 2: West Virginia State 7 – Concord 2
The Yellow Jackets hit their own grand slam in the second inning to grab an early six-run lead on their way to the game two win.
Christian's single in the bottom of the second scored a run to get Concord on the board.
From there, the offenses went quiet as fifth-year senior pitcher
Dan Nicholls stymied WVSU over 5.1 innings of relief, striking out a season-best six and allowing one run on four hits.
Concord pieced together a two-out rally in the fifth inning as consecutive walks allowed Keenan to hit and double in Saryeldin. After an intentional walk to Satcher, West Virginia State escaped a bases-loaded jam to maintain a 6-2 advantage.
The Yellow Jackets added a run in the top of the sixth.
Satcher finished with two more hits and was on base all three times in game two. Keenan recorded his 11
th double of the season in the contest.
Freshman pitcher/infielder
Rylee Nicholas (3-2) was the pitcher of record for Concord as he allowed six earned runs and recorded two strikeouts.
The Mountain Lions open up a four-game series with West Virginia Wesleyan 1:00 p.m. Friday at Anderson Field.
Â
Â
