Concord Splits MEC Opener at West Virginia State

INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The Concord University softball team won its first Mountain East Conference game of the season before dropping game two in a doubleheader at West Virginia State Friday afternoon at Lady Jackets Field.
 
With the split, CU moves to 6-13 on the season and 1-1 in conference play while WVSU is now 9-7 and sports a 1-1 record in the MEC.
 
Game One: Concord 3 – West Virginia State 2
After being shutout through the first five innings of action, the Mountain Lions' bats came alive in the sixth.
 
Sophomore pitcher/infielder Madison Hollis led off the frame by reaching on an error by the third baseman. Freshman pitcher/utility Mahailey Nicholson replaced Hollis as a pinch runner and swiped second for her first career stolen base.
 
Then, junior infielder Courtney Raines singled and another WVSU error led to Nicholson coming around to score and make the score 2-1 in favor of the Yellow Jackets. Sophomore infielder Kendall Morgan grounded out to second base, but moved Raines to third with one away. Junior outfielder Alina Giles tied the game with a double into deep center field and placed the go-ahead run on second base still with one out.
 
Concord would not plate the go-ahead run until the seventh, as junior catcher/utility Gianna Sloan-Lebron hit a ball into right field and touched all four bases after another West Virginia State error to take a 3-2 lead.  
 
After a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh, Nicholson locked down the final three outs to earn the victory and improve to 3-1 in the circle this spring. Nicholson tossed 5.0 shutout innings in relief, only surrendering one hit and striking out six Yellow Jackets. Hollis got the start and allowed one earned run over 2.0 innings pitched.
 
Four Mountain Lions' hitters logged multi-hit games, with Giles claiming the lone RBI while also slugging two doubles.
 
Game Two: West Virginia State 4 – Concord 3
CU jumped on the board early in game two, but could not keep up in the later innings of the contest.
 
Freshman pitcher/outfielder Reghan Hintz led off the game with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. With two outs, she moved to third on a passed ball. Then, Raines gave the Maroon and Gray a 1-0 lead on an infield RBI single.
 
In the third inning, Hintz led off the frame with another single. Sloan-Lebron pushed Hintz to second base on a sacrifice bunt with one out then claimed third base on another wild pitch. Junior infielder Lacie Lewis followed up with a single down the left field line and extended the advantage to 2-0.
 
WVSU plated three runs in the bottom of the third and one run in the fifth to jump ahead, 4-2.
 
Down to their final three outs, the Mountain Lions made a final run in the seventh. Sloan-Lebron led off the inning with an infield single and Raines collected a one-out single. Then, Hollis drove a ball up the middle for an RBI single that brought Concord with one run, 4-3. Morgan and Giles reached in back-to-back at-bats to load the bases, but CU came up short, splitting the conference-opening twinbill.
 
Hintz and Raines each had two hits in the game to lead CU. Giles picked up her third double on the day and walked to reach base twice. Sophomore pitcher Josi Ervin (3-6) took the loss, giving up three earned runs across 6.0 innings while striking out four.
 
Concord heads to Charleston to take on the Golden Eagles in a doubleheader Saturday starting at 1:00 p.m.