ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University softball team defeated Wheeling in both games of its Mountain East Conference doubleheader Wednesday afternoon at the CU Softball Field.
Game one was suspended due to bad weather making the field unplayable with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning. Unable to play the rest of the game in Wheeling, the contest was moved to Athens, West Virginia with the Cardinals continuing to be scored as the home team.
Game 1: Concord 12 – Wheeling 7
Concord (12-26, 5-13 MEC) scored nine runs in the first two innings of play to push past Wheeling (9-20, 2-12 MEC) in game one.
Back-to-back walks to senior pitcher/outfielder
Laura Thompson and freshman third baseman
Kylee Stacy started the game for the Mountain Lions. After both advanced into scoring position, freshman shortstop/utility player
Courtney Raines singled to center field to score Thompson and advance Stacy to third base. With CU up 2-0, freshman first baseman/outfielder
Kassidy Garvey emptied the bases as she hit her first career home run over the center field fence to give Concord a 4-0 lead.
In the top of the second inning, fifth-year senior outfielder
Hanna Hylton led off the inning by legging out an infield single. Thompson doubled to center field, while Hylton advanced to third base on the play. Senior third baseman/outfielder
Sarah Thompson hit a sacrifice fly to score Hylton, advance L. Thompson to third, and move Stacy up to second base. Raines, once again, delivered with runners in scoring position by hitting a single into centerfield to score both runners and extend CU's lead to 7-0. Concord added two more runs on a pair of Wheeling errors.
As mentioned before, the game was suspended in the bottom of the fourth inning and continued at the CU Softball Field in Athens, West Virginia. Wheeling scored five runs in the inning to make it a 9-5 deficit.
In the top of the fifth inning, Garvey led off the inning with a double to right center field. Freshman pitcher/infielder
Rachael Koller singled to centerfield to score Garvey, while also advancing to second base on an error. L. Thompson reached on an error while Koller scored on the play. After the Prince George, Virginia native stole second, Stacy singled through the right side of the infield to plate L. Thompson to put CU up 12-5.
Offensively, Raines and Garvey had two hits each. Raines tallied three RBI, while Garvey recorded two RBI.
Koller (5-11) went the distance to earn the win, while also tossing seven strikeouts in the game.
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Game 2: Concord 9 - Wheeling 1
Concord plated three runs each in the second, fifth, and sixth innings, while holding Wheeling to just four hits to win game two in six innings.
Scoreless after an inning, Raines started the top of the second inning with a lead-off single up the middle. Privett singled on a bunt to put two runners on base with no outs. Garvey put CU up 3-0 by hitting her second home run of the series over the left field fence.
Wheeling scored a run in the bottom of the fourth inning to narrow the deficit to 3-1.
With one out in the top of the fifth inning, L. Thompson singled on a bunt and Stacy followed with a single to left field. Raines doubled to right center field to plate the two runners and extend Concord's lead to 5-1. A two-out double by junior catcher/outfielder
Jolie Privett scored Raines to make it a 6-1 game.
In the top of the sixth inning, Koller started the inning with a lead-off single and was pinch ran for by sophomore outfielder
Imani Campbell. Freshman shortstop/second baseman
Kayla McCraw singled through the left side, while Campbell advanced to second base. Freshman second baseman/outfielder
Aubrey Matice doubled down the left field line to score Campbell. The throw home nabbed McCraw at the plate, but Matice advanced to third on the play. Matice scored on a groundout to extend Concord's lead to 8-1. Stacy doubled to left center and advanced to third on the throw back into the infield. She later scored on an infield error to make it a 9-1 game.
At the plate, Stacy, Raines, and Privett recorded two hits each. Garvey tallied three RBI, while Raines scored two RBI in the win.
In the circle, Bauer (7-10) earned the win while pitching all six innings. She struck out seven Wheeling batters, while allowing four hits and one earned run.
CU hosts Frostburg State Friday at 2:00 p.m. in a MEC doubleheader at the CU Softball Field.
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