Concord Goes 1-1 Against West Virginia Wesleyan

ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University softball team bounced back from a 2-0 loss in game one with an 11-7 win in game two against Mountain East Conference foe West Virginia Wesleyan Friday afternoon at the CU Softball Field.
 
After the doubleheader, CU sits at 23-24 overall and 16-12 against the MEC and WVWC moves to 18-32 on the spring and 13-15 in MEC play.
 
Game One: West Virginia Wesleyan 2 – Concord 0
The Mountain Lions were unable to catch up in the opening game after the Bobcats plated a pair of early runs.
 
West Virginia Wesleyan took a 2-0 lead after two frames, but CU threatened in the bottom half of the second. Junior pitcher/infielder Madison Hollis singled into right field to lead off the inning and was replaced on the bases by junior catcher/utility Kayla Sholter after a fielder's choice. Then, junior outfielder Alina Giles doubled into left field to place two runners in scoring position, but were unable to come around to score.
 
Hollis retired nine out of the next 10 batters she faced in the circle to keep the game 2-0 in the fifth.
 
Freshman pitcher/outfielder Reghan Hintz walked to begin the bottom of the fifth inning and junior infielder Lacie Lewis doubled with one out to place two runners in scoring position for the second time in the game. Unfortunately, the Maroon and Gray were unable to capitalize and found themselves down to their final three outs in the seventh.
 
Giles drew a leadoff walk to begin the last frame of action followed by a pair of infield singles by Hintz and junior catcher/utility Morgan Gleason to load the bases with no outs. Concord came up short once again, as WVWC closed out the 2-0 win.
 
Lewis and Giles registered the only extra-base hits of the contest for the Mountain Lions while Giles and Hintz each reached base twice, Hollis (8-5) took the loss after tossing all seven innings allowing two earned runs with seven hits and issuing two walks.
 
Game Two: Concord 11 – West Virginia Wesleyan 7
The Bobcats jumped in front 4-1, but the CU bats came alive in the second inning.
 
The Mountain Lions tallied four-straight walks to begin the frame and cut into the deficit, 4-2, with the bases loaded and no outs. Then, junior catcher/utility Gianna Sloan-Lebron touched home on a wild pitch to make the score 4-3. Concord jumped in front when Hollis drove a ball into right field for a two-out, two-RBI single to lead 5-4.
 
In the bottom of the third, Giles worked another leadoff walk and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice from Hintz. After another walk drawn from Sloan-Lebron, Gleason crushed her first home run of the season, a three-run shot to extend the advantage to 8-4.
 
The Bobcats added a pair of runs in the fourth to trim the lead to 8-6, but CU countered in the fifth.
 
After a leadoff walk and base hit, Sloan-Lebron and Gleason picked up a double steal to move into scoring position. With two outs, senior first baseman/outfielder Kassidy Garvey singled through the right side and plated two more runs, 10-8. Hollis kept her impressive day at the plate going with a two-out double into right center to drive in CU's last run of the day, 11-6.
 
Freshman pitcher/utility Mahailey Nicholson surrendered a run in the seventh, but closed out game to earn the win and improve her record to 7-6. Nicholson went the distance allowing five earned runs and struck out four. Hollis went 3-for-3 at the dish in game two with four RBIs and also drew a walk. Gleason and sophomore infielder Kendall Morgan also each had multiple hits with Gleason driving in three runs.
 
The Mountain Lions play their final regular season games on Senior Day against Davis & Elkins Saturday at 12:00 p.m.