Concord Gears Up for Eight-Game Road Trip Beginning at Davis & Elkins

Concord Stats - Davis & Elkins Stats - Live Stats - Live Video

ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University baseball team begins an eight-game Mountain East Conference road trip when it plays Davis & Elkins in a pair of Mountain East Conference doubleheaders 1:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

LIVE COVERAGE
Stats: The Davis & Elkins Sports Information Department will provide live in-game statistics of the four-game series.
Video: Live streaming video will be available for the road series from D&E.

RECORDS
CU has won seven of its last nine games to improve to 24-12-1 overall. The Mountain Lions are 13-7 in the MEC after winning just 14 conference games last season.

The Senators are 6-26 this season and 3-17 versus MEC foes.

LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD
The Mountain Lions swept a four-game series from West Virginia Wesleyan on Easter Weekend as they outscored the Bobcats 71-19. It was the most runs scored by Concord in a four-game stretch in head coach Kevin Garrett's tenure that dates back to 1996. CU posted 23 runs in the series opener and added 21 runs in the third game of the series. The 23 runs were the most scored by the Maroon and Gray since April 23, 2019 at Ohio Valley when they plated 25. Sophomore outfielder D.J. Christian, sophomore infielder Zack Saryeldin and fifth-year senior infielder Anthony Stehlin all had at least 10 hits in the series. Christian was the MEC Player of the Week after collecting 13 hits and driving in 14 runs against WVWC. Stehlin raised his average 40 points (.281 to .321) with 10 hits in the series. Saryeldin had 11 hits versus Wesleyan, and broke the single-season program record for doubles in a season with 23. Junior outfielder Kyle Keenan had a six-RBI game in the series finale.

SIT EM DOWN
Concord's pitching was also superb in the WVWC series. Sophomore pitcher Andrew Neff won his seventh consecutive start as he improved to 5-0 in MEC play. Neff is 7-2 this season, and is the first CU pitcher with at least seven wins since Troy Beckner went 7-3 in 2017. The last Concord pitcher with eight or more wins in a season was in 2014 when Chris Kelly and Ryan Weatherholtz both achieved eight wins. Sophomore pitcher Eddie Blake struck out a career-best 10 batters versus West Virginia Wesleyan. He joins Neff as active CU pitchers with 10-strikeout games. Over the last two seasons, the Mountain Lions have had six 10-strikeout performances by four different pitchers, including current CU pitching coach Trent Abernathy doing it twice in 2021. Freshman pitcher Justin Carden tied his career high with five strikeouts in five innings in his second career start over the weekend.

OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE COMBINATION
CU piled up 43 runs in four games against Davis & Elkins last season as it took three of the four games at Anderson Field. Neff tossed his first career complete game as he registered a then career-high nine strikeouts in the second game, an 8-2 Concord win. After a 9-5 defeat in the third game, the Mountain Lions broke out for 19 runs in the series finale. Junior outfielder Josh Adkins and junior infielder Juan Fortique both homered with Adkins' homer being a grand slam. Saryeldin and Stehlin both had eight hits and eight runs scored in the series against D&E last season. By going 8-for-12, Saryeldin took his average over .400 after the Davis & Elkins series. Saryeldin has ended the game with a .400 or better average in 51 consecutive contests.

DAVIS & ELKINS AT A GLANCE
The Senators have just one win against MEC South teams, a 3-2 win in the first game of the Glenville State series. D&E was no-hit last weekend by Charleston's Colt Webb. Mason Brenneman is hitting .315 with a home run and seven RBI. Zach McGillan limited Concord to five runs last year as Davis & Elkins took game three of the series. McGillan has tossed a team-best 42 innings and has a 6.64 ERA. Former CU pitcher McKinley Scott leads the Senators in strikeouts with 30 in 35 innings.  D&E catcher Cole Hitch has a team-best 13 RBI.