CUMBERLAND, Md. – The Concord University baseball team began Mountain East Conference play with a doubleheader split at Frostburg State in a twinbill played at Steve Bazarnic Field Saturday afternoon.
CU (6-12, 1-1 MEC) rolled to a 13-2 win in game one before Frostburg State (9-6, 1-1 MEC) won game two 8-2.
Game 1: Concord 13 – Frostburg State 2
Two explosive innings from the Concord offense carried the Mountain Lions to a resounding win.
FSU plated a run in the bottom of the first before CU's offense scored four times in top of the second. A bases-loaded walk to sophomore outfielder
Atticus Goodson tied the game. The next batter, senior infielder
Matthew DiSanti, followed by ripping an opposite field double to right to clear the bases and push Concord ahead 4-1.
The Mountain Lion offense tacked on two more runs in the top of the fourth as junior infielder
Nick DiSanti brought in two runs on an RBI single.
Frostburg State scratched across another run in the bottom of the fourth. The 5-2 lead stood up until Concord put the game out of reach in the top of the sixth with five runs.
Goodson led off the inning with his third home run of the season. Senior infielder
Korbin Bostic added a one-out, run-scoring single later in the inning before he and N. DiSanti came around to score on the first career triple by senior infielder
Tyson Burke. The inning still wasn't done as Burke scored on a two-out RBI hit from senior infielder
Sam Stowe.
Up 11-2, Concord's offense stayed hot as N. DiSanti brought in two runs on an RBI single in the seventh.
The 13 runs were more than enough for sophomore pitcher
Kaden Varela-Payne who tossed a complete game. He improved to 3-2 on the season as he scattered eight hits and allowed two earned runs. Three of his four strikeouts came in the seventh.
N. DiSanti was 3-for-3 with four RBI and was on base five times. M. DiSanti followed by going 2-for-5 with three RBI. Goodson finished 1-for-2 with four runs scored and the solo home run.
Game 2: Frostburg State 6 – Concord 2
Five late runs by Frostburg State was the difference in the game as CU was unable to complete the sweep.
An RBI double from Stowe opened the scoring in the bottom of the second as he brought in Bostic who had reached on an error earlier in the inning.
FSU leveled the game in the bottom of the third on an RBI groundout.
The game remained tied at 1-1 until the bottom of the fifth inning when the Bobcats used two home runs to pull ahead 4-1. However, the Mountain Lions had an immediate response in the top of the sixth. After Bostic led off the frame with a double, he moved to third on a groundout, and raced home on a passed ball.
Down 4-2, CU watched Frostburg State push across two more runs in the bottom of the inning. But, Concord had one more surge in the seventh. Two of the first three batters reached. FSU, though, was able to keep the Mountain Lions off the scoreboard.
Concord was limited to three hits in the nightcap. Freshman outfielder Jared Levergne added a single to go with doubles from Bostic and Stowe.
In his return to the mound for the first time in nearly 700 days, graduate pitcher
Rylee Nicholas tossed three innings and struck out three. Senior pitcher
Kerry Collins (0-2) was the pitcher of the record for Concord as he gave up two runs in an inning of work.
The Mountain Lions travel to face Fairmont State 1:00 p.m. Saturday in a doubleheader at Mylan Park in Morgantown, West Virginia.
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