Concord Opens MEC Tournament Play Versus Fairmont State

Concord Stats - Fairmont State Stats - Live Stats - Live Video

ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University baseball team gears up for the start of the Mountain East Conference Tournament when it plays Fairmont State 7:00 p.m. Thursday at Epling Stadium in Beckley, West Virginia.

LIVE COVERAGE
Stats: The Mountain East Conference will provide live in-game statistics throughout the tournament.
Video: Live streaming video will also be available from the MEC Office.

RECORDS
CU finished second in the MEC South with a league record of 20-12. The overall mark for Concord this season is 31-17-1, the seventh 30-win season in program history and fifth since 2010.

Fairmont State also finished second in its division, the MEC North. FSU is 27-20 overall and 22-10 versus the MEC.

ROUNDING INTO FORM
The Mountain Lions won their final game of the regular season as they split a four-game series with Glenville State Sunday and Monday. Fifth-year senior pitcher Dan Nicholls helped CU to its second shutout of the season with a 5-0 win. Nicholls silenced GSU's offense by scattering four hits and striking out a season-best seven over six innings. Junior outfielder Kyle Keenan aided the offensive output with his 46^th RBI of the season, sixth best in the MEC. Junior outfielder Josh Adkins finished the regular season by hitting safely in 13 of the final 16 games, and reaching base a total of 32 times in the final four weekends of conference play. Sophomore infielder/catcher Chris Satcher homered twice in the GSU series to make him of seven players in the MEC with at least 10 home runs this season. Satcher's 10 homers are the most for a CU player since Jordan Clark hit 13 in 2017.

BEEN HERE BEFORE
Concord is making its 24^th consecutive appearance at the conference tournament, including eight straight appearances at the MEC Tournament. Last year, CU advanced to the MEC Championship Game before bowing out to West Virginia State. In the 2021 MEC Tournament, sophomore infielder Zack Saryeldin led all players in hits with 10 in 24 at-bats, an average of .417. Saryeldin is leading the MEC in average (.435) and doubles (23) this year. Sophomore pitcher Andrew Neff put together one of his best career outings in the MEC Tournament last season by tossing 7.1 innings of one-run baseball against nationally-ranked Charleston. Neff struck out nine and scattered seven hits. Both Neff and Saryeldin were named to the All-MEC Tournament Team. Fellow sophomore pitcher Eddie Blake was also a winning pitcher for CU last season at the MEC Tournament as he defeated Alderson-Broaddus, allowing four earned runs in 6.1 innings.

MAROON MATCHUP
Concord lost two close regular-season games to Fairmont State at the beginning of April, 8-6 and 1-0. Freshman infielder/pitcher MJ Hunter drove in three runs in the first game with a bases-clearing double. Saryeldin collected two hits. The second game featured just seven hits between the teams as FSU won on a throwing error in the bottom of the seventh. CU had won three of the previous four meetings before the April setback against the Fighting Falcons. Saryeldin is 6-of-13 in his career versus Fairmont State with five runs scored. Fifth-year infielder Anthony Stehlin is hitting .421 (8-for-19) in his career against FSU with at least one hit in five of the six games he has played. Three of the eight hits have gone for doubles. The last time Concord and Fairmont State matched up in the MEC Tournament was in 2017, a 12-6 FSU win.

FAIRMONT STATE AT A GLANCE
The Fighting Falcons let a chance to win the MEC North slip away in the final series of the season as they lost three of four games to Frostburg State. However, FSU did secure its first 20-win conference season since 2017 when they won 20 games in the MEC. Justin Brown drove in two runs in the 8-6 win for FSU over Concord earlier this season. Zach Musgrove is hitting .353 with eight home runs and 49 RBI. Brown also has eight home runs and is adding 32 RBI. Will Mullins was responsible for shutting out CU earlier this season. Mullins is 5-2 this season with a 4.92 ERA. Among the FSU starters, Logan Smith has the lowest ERA of 3.13. First-year head coach Matt Yurish guided Alderson Broaddus to the MEC Tournament last season, and improved FSU by 13 wins this year.