WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The Concord University softball team split a doubleheader at West Liberty in a pair of tight games, winning 5-2 before falling 1-0, in Mountain East Conference action at the Hilltopper Softball Complex Sunday afternoon.
Game 1: Concord 5 – West Liberty 2
After falling behind 2-0 after two innings, Concord (19-17, 9-9 MEC) scored five unanswered runs late in the game to take game one.
West Liberty (11-24, 5-11 MEC) registered an RBI single in each of the first two innings to go up 2-0. However, senior pitcher/infielder
Madison Hollis dodged trouble as she stranded seven Hilltoppers on base over the next three innings.
In the fifth, CU's offense broke through as it plated three runs. Sophomore utility
Blake Jamerson singled before junior infielder
Kendall Morgan was hit to ignite the rally. The next batter, sophomore utility
Kristy McCord reached base on an error that allowed both Jamerson and Morgan to score. Hollis kept the line moving by her helping her own cause with an RBI single.
In the circle, Hollis left the bases loaded full of West Liberty runners again in the bottom of the fifth, and Concord bats provided some much-needed insurance in the sixth.
Two of the first three batters were walked during the next half inning to set up an RBI chance for Morgan as she delivered a two-run single that plated junior pitcher
Josi Ervin and senior catcher
Kayla Sholter.
WLU brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, but Hollis forced a ground ball to end the game.
Morgan was 2-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI. Hollis added a two-hit day to go with an RBI. She picked up her 12
th win in the circle by limiting West Liberty to two runs (one earned).
Game 2: West Liberty 1 – Concord 0
Offense was tough to come by in the second game as West Liberty scored the game's only run on a bases-loaded walk in bottom of the seventh.
Sophomore pitcher/outfielder
Reghan Hintz retired 11 of the first 12 batters she faced as she did not give up a hit until a two-out single in the fourth inning.
The Mountain Lions recorded just two hits in the contest. Morgan notched a leadoff single in the fourth, but West Liberty got a double play later in the frame. And Hintz punched a single up the middle in the sixth.
After Hintz got the first two outs in the seventh, three straight WLU batters reached before an eight-pitch battle ended in a walk.
Hintz (6-11) authored one of her best performances of the season as she allowed just one hit and an earned run. She struck out four.
With an eight-game road trip now in the past, Concord returns to Athens to start a homestand with Frostburg State visiting the CU Softball Field 1:00 p.m. Saturday.
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