Athens, W.Va. – The Concord University softball team plays two Mountain East Conference doubleheaders on the road against West Liberty and Wheeling this weekend.
Concord travels to West Liberty to take on the Hilltoppers Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at Hilltopper Softball Complex. CU will then play Wheeling on Monday at 12:00 p.m. at JB Chambers I-470 Complex.
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LIVE COVERAGE
Stats: The West Liberty and Wheeling Sports Information Departments will provide live in-game statistics of the doubleheaders on Sunday and Monday.
Video: Live streaming will also be available for both doubleheaders.
RECORDS
Concord is 10-24 overall and 3-11 against MEC teams.
West Liberty has an overall record of 19-12-1 and conference record of 9-3.
Wheeling is 9-18 overall and 2-10 against MEC opponents.
CLEAN SWEEP
Wednesday evening, Concord defeated Glenville State in both games of their MEC doubleheader. The Mountain Lions beat the Pioneers 2-0 in game one and 7-3 in game two. In the first game, senior pitcher/outfielder
Laura Thompson's RBI double in the bottom of the third inning opened the scoring for the game. Freshman utility player
Delaney Fulk made it a 2-0 game by scoring on a wild pitch. Freshman pitcher/first baseman
Caitlyn Bauer was dominant in the win. Bauer pitched all seven innings, striking out a career-high 10 batters, allowing zero earned runs, and facing just two batters over the minimum.
In game two, freshman shortstop/utility player
Courtney Raines batted 2-for-3 with two RBI. L. Thompson, senior third baseman/outfielder
Sarah Thompson, and freshman first baseman/outfielder
Kassidy Garvey recorded an RBI each in the game. Freshman pitcher/infielder
Rachael Koller was the winning pitcher in the contest. Koller pitched a complete game, striking out seven batters and allowing three earned runs.
The last time the Mountain Lions swept a MEC opponent was against Davis & Elkins in the 2021 regular season finale. CU took game one 5-3 before defeating D&E 9-0 in game two. In game one, L. Thompson batted 3-for-3 with two doubles and two RBI. She also earned the win in the circle, striking out three batters in a complete game effort. Junior catcher/outfielder
Jolie Privett tallied two hits with two RBI in the game. In game two against D&E, S. Thompson batted 3-for-3 with two doubles, two RBI, and three runs scored. L. Thompson tripled and scored once in the game. The Mountain Lions had a total of nine hits in the contest.
BRINGING THE HEAT
Bauer's ten strikeouts against Emory & Henry is the third time this season and 11
th time in the last three seasons that a Mountain Lion pitcher has fanned 10 opponents in a single game. Koller has struck out 10 batters twice so far this season. Bauer has tossed a team-high 84 strikeouts so far this season. Her 84 strikeouts is the sixth-most in the Mountain East. The Lexington, North Carolina native also is currently sitting in sixth for the most strikeouts in a single season by a CU pitcher.
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HISTORY AGAINST WEST LIBERTY/WHEELING
Concord is 19-33 all-time against West Liberty and 15-20 all-time against Wheeling. CU's 8-6 win over West Liberty in 2019 is the last time the Mountain Lions beat the Hilltoppers. Concord had 10 hits as a team in the game.
Last season, CU swept Wheeling by beating the Cardinals 7-3 in game one and 8-0 in game two. Privett and S. Thompson tallied two hits in game one. S. Thompson also had two RBI and a double in the win. L. Thompson earned the win in the circle, pitching a complete game with nine strikeouts. In game two, L. Thompson tripled and recorded two RBI in the win.
WEST LIBERTY AT A GLANCE
The Hilltoppers have won three of their last four games. WLU has a team batting average of .280. Annie Paterson leads West Liberty in batting average (.469), slugging percentage (.827), doubles (11), home runs (six), and RBI (25). West Liberty has three pitchers in the top-5 in the MEC in ERA. Taylor Bonnett is tied for first in the MEC with a 1.25 ERA. Makenzie Amend is third in the conference with a 1.76 ERA. Paterson is fourth in the MEC with a 2.61 ERA. West Liberty's team-ERA is 2.38. Amend is second in the MEC in strikeouts with 112.
WHEELING AT A GLANCE
Wheeling is currently on a nine-game losing streak. The Cardinals' two conference wins have come against Notre Dame and Alderson Broaddus. Wheeling has a team batting average of .298 and slugging percentage of .440. Autumn Oehlstrom leads the team in batting average (.406) and slugging percentage (.681). Wheeling's team ERA is 7.81. Aubrie Lafferty leads the Cardinals with 23 strikeouts in 49.1 innings pitched.
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