Concord Starts MEC Tournament Against Wheeling

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ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University baseball team opens the Mountain East Conference Tournament against Wheeling at GoMart Ballpark in Charleston, West Virginia 11:00 a.m. Thursday.

LIVE COVERAGE
The Mountain East Conference will provide live streaming video as well as live statistics of the contest.

Live Stats
Live Video

TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The MEC Tournament is double elimination. With a win on Thursday, Concord would play 2:00 p.m. Friday versus the winner of the Frostburg State-West Virginia State game. Meanwhile, a loss would push Concord to the 11:00 a.m. contest Friday versus either Charleston or West Liberty.

SERIES HISTORY: Concord leads 23-8

LAST FIVE MEETINGS
April 1, 2023: Concord 2 – Wheeling 0 (W, 5-4 W, 6-2) (Athens, W.Va.)
March 20, 2022: Concord 1 – Wheeling 1 (L, 16-1 W, 7-5 (8)) (Wheeling, W.Va.)
May 13, 2021: Concord 15 – Wheeling 1 (Beckley, W.Va.)
March 22, 2021: Wheeling 2 – Concord 0 (L, 8-5 (9) L, 13-6) (Athens, W.Va.)
March 5, 2021: Wheeling 5 – Concord 3 (Salem, W.Va.)

CONCORD AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 27-19
MEC Record: 23-7
Home Record: 17-13
Away Record: 10-6

CLUTCH SITUATIONS
The Mountain Lions finished the regular season by winning their final two games at Glenville State, 11-4 and 5-1. Particularly in the second game victory, sophomore pitcher/infielder Rylee Nicholas struck out a career-high 10 batters and allowed just three hits and a run over six innings. Meanwhile, freshman outfielder Dawson Gragg hit his first career home run, a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning. It was the second grand slam of the season for CU after senior catcher Hunter Steel knocked out a slam at West Virginia Wesleyan in mid-April. In Concord's 11-4 win at GSU, junior pitcher Andrew Neff picked up his single-season program record 11^th win while at the same time becoming just the fifth pitcher in MEC history to net 11 or more wins in a season. Additionally, the 2023 MEC Pitcher of the Year broke the single-season program record for strikeouts and now has 86.

REVISITING WHEELING
As part of a 17-1 start to conference play, Concord swept two games from Wheeling, 5-4 and 6-2, on April 1. Junior infielder Chris Satcher was pivotal in the one-run victory in game one as he drove in four runs and scored the fifth on a wild pitch. Satcher hit a go-ahead two-run homer, one of his seven for the season, in the fifth inning. Neff struck out six over six innings as he picked what was then his sixth victory of the season. Graduate outfielder Josh Adkins was the big bat for the Mountain Lions in game two as he blasted two home runs and accounted for three RBI—his only career multi-home run game. Nicholas delivered six innings on the mound as he limited WU to two hits and a run while striking out three. Sophomore infielder Brendan Brady was 3-for-5 versus Wheeling.

THE REAL SEASON BEGINS
CU makes its 25^th consecutive conference tournament appearance it takes the field Thursday morning, and the second time playing Wheeling in the last three years of the MEC Tournament. Concord opened the 2021 conference postseason with an emphatic 15-1 win over the Cardinals. Junior infielder Zack Saryeldin was 3-for-5 with four runs scored and a double in that game. Current CU pitching coach Trent Abernathy delivered a complete game as he struck out nine. Thursday will be the first time the Maroon and Gray plays at GoMart Ballpark since the 2017 season when they played Charleston in a regular-season series. Neff has dazzled in the MEC Tournament in his career by tossing 15.2 innings while striking out 18 and allowing just two earned runs. He has been named All-MEC Tournament twice in his career. Meanwhile, Adkins (2022) and Saryeldin (2021) have been on the All-MEC Tournament Team in their careers.

WHEELING AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 28-20
MEC Record: 17-13
Home Record: 10-5
Away Record: 15-13
Neutral Record: 3-2

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
The Cardinals enter the MEC Tournament like Concord, having won their final two regular-season games over West Liberty. The 28 wins for WU are a single-season program record. Wheeling put seven players on the All-MEC Teams that were released Tuesday. All-MEC First Team shortstop Jacob Murray batted .315 with 10 home runs and 24 RBI. He went 4-for-6 versus CU earlier this season with a double and a home run. Braden Killens was the All-MEC Second Team third baseman, finishing with a .348 average and 51 RBI, tied for second most in the conference. On the mound, Kody McCarley was 4-4 with a 4.45 ERA over 66.2 innings while striking out 70. Neff was able to outduel McCarley in early April.