Concord Puts Winning Streak Up Against MEC South Leader Charleston

Concord Stats - Charleston Stats - Live Video

ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University baseball team renews its Mountain East Conference South Division rivalry with Charleston when the teams meet for two road doubleheaders 1:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Welch Athletic Complex.

LIVE COVERAGE
Video: The Charleston Sports Information Department will provide live streaming video of the four-game series.

RECORDS
Winners of eight straight games, the Mountain Lions are now 28-12-1 this spring. CU is second in the MEC South with a mark of 17-7.

Charleston is up two games on Concord in the conference at 19-5. The Golden Eagles are 27-12 overall.

ROLLING ALONG
Concord has matched its longest winning streak since March 28-April 4, 2015 when it also won eight consecutive games. The Mountain Lions are coming off back-to-back sweeps of Davis & Elkins and West Virginia Wesleyan. Offensively, junior outfielder Kyle Keenan has helped pace the offense during the eight-game winning streak by hitting .483 (15-for-31) and driving in 16 of his 38 RBI for the season. Sophomore catcher/infielder Chris Satcher has tallied eight RBI and carries a 12-game hitting streak into the weekend. Fifth-year senior infielder Anthony Stehlin has added 15 hits in the last eight games as he is batting .468 (15-for-32). And freshman catcher Joey Duffer has added 11 RBI in the last eight games. Meanwhile, the CU pitching staff has racked up 51 strikeouts in the last two series. That includes a 10-strikeout game for sophomore pitcher Eddie Blake against West Virginia Wesleyan, and a career-high nine strikeouts for freshman pitcher Jacob Nester at D&E. Additionally, CU has allowed four runs or fewer in six of the last eight games.

MILESTONE MOMENT
By recording the final three outs in both games on Sunday at Davis & Elkins, Stehlin set the single-season saves record in program history with his sixth and seventh saves of the season. The Woodbridge, Virginia native continued to extend his program lead in career saves with 16. Stehlin's save total is also top 25 in Division II this season. Earlier this spring, sophomore infielder Zack Saryeldin broke the program single-season doubles record, and now has 23 doubles. For sophomore pitcher Andrew Neff, he won his eighth game of the season at Davis & Elkins. There's only been three occurrences of a CU pitcher winning nine or more games in a single season. The last time it was done was by Kevin McClung in 2001. In the career record book, Stehlin moved into 10^th in program history in runs scored at Davis & Elkins with 163.

MEETING AT THE TOP
Concord and Charleston will meet with first place on the line this weekend. By winning three out of four games, CU could tie Charleston for first place in the MEC South Division. Concord leads the all-time series 47-29.  Last season, the Mountain Lions and Golden Eagles split four games in the regular season before Concord defeated UC in the MEC Tournament. All five games were played with Charleston ranked nationally in the top 20. Saryeldin was 8-for-14 against Charleston in the regular season that included three home runs and six RBI. Stehlin saved both CU regular-season wins last season as he pitched a total of three innings versus Charleston in 2021. Neff was the winning pitcher in the MEC Tournament meeting as he tossed 7.2 innings, allowing just one run and striking out a then career-high nine batters.

CHARLESTON AT A GLANCE
The Golden Eagles are in the mix for an NCAA Tournament at-large berth as they are ranked ninth in the initial NCAA Atlantic Regional Rankings. The top seven teams make the national tournament. UC is hitting .322 as a team this season which is third in the MEC. Catcher Tyler Dellerman is batting .424 this with 12 home runs, third in the MEC, and a league-leading 57 RBI. Jordan Bailey has swiped 32 bases in 35 attempts, which is top 10 in Division II. One of the top freshmen in the MEC, Kyle West, has seven home runs and 39 RBI. Ethan Soderna is undefeated this season with a mark of 8-0—he and CU's Neff are the only two pitchers in the conference with eight wins. Colt Webb (62) and Soderna (61) have combined for over 120 strikeouts.