BUCKHANNON, W.Va. – The Concord University softball team defeated West Virginia Wesleyan 12-7 in game one before falling to the Bobcats in game two, 4-3, of a Mountain East Conference doubleheader Sunday afternoon.
CU is now 9-16 overall on the season and 4-4 against the MEC while WVWC sits at 7-21 and 3-5 in conference play.
Game One: Concord 12 – West Virginia Wesleyan 7
The Mountain Lions jumped ahead in the top of the first and never looked back.
Freshman pitcher/outfielder
Reghan Hintz led off the game by reaching on an error and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Then, sophomore infielder
Kendall Morgan singled and stole second to place runners on second and third.
Junior infielder
Lacie Lewis followed with an RBI single to get the scoring underway, 1-0. Junior infielder
Courtney Raines followed by shooting an RBI single into right field to extend the lead to 2-0 with no outs. Junior outfielder
Alina Giles drove in another run with two outs to cap off a three-run opening frame from the Mountain Lions.
The Bobcats scored a run in the bottom of the first, but the Maroon and Gray responded in the second inning. Like Hintz, junior catcher/utility
Morgan Gleason led off by reaching on a WVWC error. Morgan singled with one out and moved Gleason to third. Lewis brought CU's advantage back to three on a sacrifice fly to conclude the second, 4-1.
Gleason and Morgan reached again in the top half of the fourth inning, with Lewis adding another sacrifice fly to make the score 5-1. Raines drove in Morgan on a two-out RBI single to extend the lead, 6-1.
Concord's bats exploded in the fifth, scoring five runs in the frame. With the bases loaded and one away, Hintz reached on an error to score the first run of the rally, 7-1. Then, Morgan added an RBI single the next at-bat. With two outs, Raines emptied the bases with a three-RBI double to extend the advantage to double digits, 11-1. Junior pitcher/infielder
Madison Hollis drove in Raines for the fifth and final run to take a 12-1 lead after five innings.
West Virginia Wesleyan plated five runs itself in the bottom of the fifth and another run in the seventh, but the lead was too substantial as the Mountain Lions claimed the 12-7 victory in game one.
Morgan set a new career-high at the plate, as she led CU with four hits and scored three runs. Lewis only had one hit, but drove in three runs. Raines went 3-for-4 at the dish and tallied a career-best five runs batted in. Hollis also added three hits in the contest. Additionally, the Concord offense stole six bases, tied for the most in a single game this spring. Hollis improved to 2-3 in the circle, surrendering two earned runs and striking out three in 7.0 innings.
Game Two: West Virginia Wesleyan 4 – Concord 3
Both teams were scoreless through the game's first three innings with WWVC taking a 2-0 lead in the fourth.
In the top of the fifth, Giles reached on a fielding error and was moved to second by a sacrifice from junior catcher/utility
Gianna Sloan-Lebron. Freshman utility
Blake Jamerson singled with one out and advanced to second while Giles went to third base. Hintz drove in Concord's first run after reaching on a fielder's choice, 2-1. Morgan followed up with a sacrifice fly, tying the game 2-2 heading into the home half of the frame.
The Bobcats answered with two more runs, jumping back in front 4-2 after five complete.
Down to their final three outs, the Maroon and Gray had one final rally. Sloan-Lebron singled to lead off the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice from sophomore outfielder
Savannah Brehm. Gleason cut the deficit to one when she drove in Sloan-Lebron with one out in the inning. Morgan picked up a double with two outs, but it was not enough as the Mountain Lions fell 4-3 in game two.
Freshman pitcher/utility
Mahailey Nicholson (3-3) took the loss, giving up three earned runs and issuing zero walks in 6.1 innings. Morgan had CU's only extra-base hit in the seventh.
Concord concludes its MEC road swing with a doubleheader at Glenville State Wednesday starting at 2:00 p.m.
