ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University softball team swept West Virginia State, 8-5 and 7-0, Saturday afternoon in a Mountain East Conference doubleheader at the CU Softball Field.
Concord improves to 12-19 overall and gets back to .500 in the MEC at 7-7. WVSU falls to 10-16 overall and 2-10 versus conference foes.
Game 1: Concord 8 – West Virginia State 5
CU slugged three home runs as it tied a season high, pulling away from West Virginia State in the process.
The power display began in the fourth inning. With the game tied at 1-1, junior catcher
Gianna Sloan-Lebron followed senior infielder
Kassidy Garvey's leadoff single with her first career home run to push the Mountain Lions ahead 3-1. After back-to-back outs, it appeared WVSU would get out of the inning, however, junior infielder
Lacie Lewis kept the inning alive with a base hit. Senior infielder
Courtney Raines came up behind and crushed a home run out to left field, her fourth of the year.
Concord added to its lead during the next at-bat. Junior pitcher/infielder
Madison Hollis poked a single through the middle and was able to trot home after Garvey's two-run home run landed on the tennis courts in left center field.
Up 7-2 in the bottom of the sixth, the Maroon and Gray padded its lead as junior outfielder/catcher
Morgan Gleason found her way home on a wild pitch after starting the inning by reaching on an error.
The Yellow Jackets scored three times in the seventh, but Hollis limited the scoring in the circle.
Garvey was 3-for-3 with three RBI. At the top of the order, Lewis was 2-for-4. Raines and Sloan-Lebron each drove two runs on their home runs.
Hollis (4-3) gave up five runs and struck out three in a complete-game performance in the circle.
Game 2: Concord 7 – West Virginia State 0
The Mountain Lions scored in three of their final four at-bats to provide support for freshman pitcher
Mahailey Nicholson who locked down the Yellow Jackets from the start.
Concord began a third-inning rally with back-to-back walks before Gleason stole third base. Raines' sacrifice fly got Gleason home. A double by Morgan followed to advance Lewis to third base before she scored on a groundout. And Morgan was allowed to score on a bases-loaded hit by pitch to Sloan-Lebron.
The three runs of support were more than enough for Nicholson. She retired 10 of the first 11 batters she faced before a fourth-inning walk.
CU added two more runs in the fourth as Morgan and Hollis tallied consecutive two-out RBI singles.
Nicholson recovered quickly from the one-out walk in the fourth as she sat down the final 11 batters she faced in the game. The Newton, West Virginia native improved to 4-4 on the season as she allowed one hit and struck out a career-best eight.
It was Concord's first one-hit, shutout since April 1,2023 against West Virginia State.
Up 5-0, the Mountain Lions got two more runs in the sixth. Lewis led off the inning with her team-best sixth home run to straightaway center field. Later in the inning, freshman pitcher/utility
Reghan Hintz brought in Morgan after her double.
Nicholson struck out two batters in the seventh to cap her shutout.
Morgan paced the offense with a 4-for-4 effort, including two doubles. Hintz collected two hits to go with an RBI. Lewis was 1-for-2 with a home run, two walks and scored all three times she was on base.
The Mountain Lions continued their homestand 2:00 p.m. Thursday against Emory & Henry.
Â
Â
