Concord Walks Off Notre Dame in Extra Innings for Doubleheader Split in Home Finale

ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University softball team split a pair of extra-innings games with Mountain East Conference opponent Notre Dame Sunday afternoon at the CU Softball Field.
 
CU moves to 26-22 overall and 12-14 in MEC Conference play. The Maroon and Gray finish with an 11-9 record at the CU Softball Field in 2024. Notre Dame sits at 29-22 after the split, while being 10-14 in MEC action.
 
Game One: Notre Dame 4 – Concord 3 (Eight Innings)
CU overcame a 3-0 deficit to force extra innings, but came up short in game one.
 
Trailing 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning, junior infielder Courtney Raines led off the inning with a home run to left field to get CU on the board. The blast to left field was Raines' fourth home run of the season.
 
In the fifth, sophomore catcher Morgan Gleason hit a one-out double to the right center gap. After stealing third base, junior infielder Kylee Stacy slashed a triple down the left field line, trading places with Gleason to bring Concord within one run. With two outs, Raines drove in Stacy with a base hit to right center to knot the game, 3-3.
 
Freshman pitcher Josi Ervin held NDC scoreless in the sixth and seventh frames to force extra innings.
 
However, the Falcons plated a run in the eighth that would be the deciding factor, taking game one 4-3. A leadoff single got the tying run on base in the bottom of the eighth, but NDC escaped with the one-run win.
 
Ervin (3-4) took the loss, giving up just one earned run on five hits in 5.0 innings pitched. Sophomore pitcher/infielder Madison Hollis pitched the first three innings of the contest, allowing three earned runs.
 
CU outhit Notre Dame 11-10 in the game, with Raines, Hollis, Gleason, and redshirt freshman outfielder Sophia Conger picking up two hits each. Raines and Stacy drove in the three Concord runs.
 
Game Two: Concord 8 – Notre Dame 6 (Eight Innings)
Once down 6-1, Concord walked off game two in extra innings.
 
After a one-out walk by Hollis in the eighth, Conger ended the game with a walk-off home run down the left field line to win it, 8-6. The two-run blast was the first of Conger's career.
 
Roberts (13-7) picked up the win in the circle, holding the Falcons scoreless across the final four frames. She threw 118 pitches in the complete-game effort.
 
NDC scored three runs in the first inning to grab an early lead.
 
Things were quiet until the fourth inning, when CU picked up a trio of singles by Raines, Hollis, and freshman infielder Kendall Morgan. With two outs in the frame, graduate outfielder Jolie Privett ran out an infield single that scored the Mountain Lions' first run, 3-1.
 
Notre Dame responded with three more runs in the top half of the fifth inning.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, Stacy got the rally started with a single through the right side. Then, senior outfielder Imani Campbell reached on a Falcons fielding error. Raines and Hollis connected on back-to-back RBI singles to bring Concord within three, 6-3. Sophomore utility Kayla Sholter capped off the inning with a fielder's choice that scored another run.
 
Junior first baseman Kassidy Garvey and Stacy began the sixth inning with back-to-back walks. After Campbell reached on a fielder's choice, Raines loaded the bases with a single to center field with one out. Later in the inning, Conger hit a ball that was misplayed by the Falcons' left fielder, bringing home the game-tying runs that would force consecutive extra-inning games.   
 
Raines tallied a game-high three hits in game two. Stacy and Campbell scored two runs each.
 
CU takes on MEC South Division foe West Virginia Wesleyan in a doubleheader Saturday at 3:00 p.m. at Culpepper Field in Buckhannon, W.Va.