ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University baseball team picked up two wins over Mountain East Conference foe West Virginia State, 12-3 and 6-5 Saturday at Anderson Field.
After the two-game sweep, CU improves to 24-12 and 13-6 in MEC action. Concord now sits at second place in the MEC South Division. The Mountain Lions have now won 14 straight games. WVSU falls to 21-15 on the season and 13-7 in MEC conference games.
Game One: Concord 12, West Virginia State 3
CU scored runs in five straight frames to cruise to a game one victory.
Junior infielder/pitcher
Brendan Brady got CU on the board in the second inning with a two-out, two-RBI single to lead 2-0.
In the third inning, junior outfielder
Demetri Jamison led off the frame with a double to left field. The next at-bat, senior infielder
Zack Saryeldin, drove home Jamison and advanced to third on a WVSU fielding error. With one out, senior infielder
Michael Dupont hit a sacrifice fly that scored Saryeldin. CU wasn't done, however, as sophomore utility
Dawson Gragg hit a two-run home run to cap off the four-run frame, 6-0.
Saryeldin drove home another run in the fourth as he doubled to left field. Then, Dupont moved Saryeldin and senior first baseman
Chris Satcher over with a sacrifice bunt, but another West Virginia State error scored both runners to grow the lead to 9-0.
RBI base hits by graduate infielder
Daniel Layne and Satcher in the fifth saw CU grab a 11-0 advantage.
Layne added another RBI single through the right side in the sixth inning as the Mountain Lions entered the seventh with a 12-0 edge and closed out the game with a 12-3 victory.
Graduate pitcher
Andrew Neff pitched all seven innings, allowing seven hits and three earned runs. Neff also collected five strikeouts in the game and improved to 6-3 on the season.
Layne led Concord with three hits, while driving in two runs. Jamison and Saryeldin collected multiple hits, while Gragg and Brady added multiple RBI.
Game Two: Concord 6 – West Virginia State 5
After the Yellow Jackets took the lead in the top of the sixth, CU answered in the bottom half of the frame to secure the game two win.
Trailing 3-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth, Dupont got the Concord rally started with a single through the right side. Freshman catcher
Marshall Basham followed with his own single down the left field line, putting two runners on. Gragg loaded the bases with one-out base hit. Brady drove home Dupont with an RBI single to right field, tying the game 3-3. Then, junior utility
MJ Hunter hit a ball to right field, scoring the go-ahead runs and putting Concord back in front 5-3. Layne followed with an RBI single to add another insurance run.
WVSU answered with two runs in the top of the seventh, before Hunter came into pitch and recorded the final out.Hunter collected his sixth save this season on just one pitch thrown.
CU struck first in game two with two runs in the second inning on a pair of Yellow Jackets' errors.
West Virginia State added runs in the third, fourth, and sixth innings, taking a 3-2 lead before the four-run Concord outburst.
Graduate pitcher
Eddie Blake (5-3) got the win, pitching 6.2 innings and giving up only three earned runs while fanning four Yellow Jackets.
Satcher and Dupont logged two hits and scored one run each in the game. Hunter's lone hit of the contest was his go-ahead two-run single in the sixth. Layne and Brady also notched an RBI each.
The Mountain Lions finish the series against WVSU in a doubleheader Sunday at 1:00 p.m. at Anderson Field.
