ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University baseball team split a doubleheader on Senior Day against Glenville State at Anderson Field in Mountain East Conference play Friday.
 
Concord (23-25, 17-11 MEC) took a quick one over Glenville State (27-19, 16-12 MEC) in the opener behind a dominant start from sophomore pitcher Kaden Varela-Payne. Game two was a thriller as the Pioneers took the game 15-14 as the Mountain Lion comeback fell just short.
 
Game 1: Concord 4 - Glenville State 2
CU scored all four runs in the bottom of the first inning, and Varela-Payne kept the Pioneers in check throughout.
 
Senior infielder Nick DiSanti golfed his first home run of the year, a leadoff homer, to kickstart the Mountain Lions' offense. Later in the inning with two aboard, freshman outfielder Lucas Cannon also sent a home run to left field for his first career homer. Behind the two longballs, Concord took a 4-0 lead.
 
After a leadoff single in the top of the first inning, Varela-Payne retired 13 straight Pioneer batters as he faced the minimum until a two-out walk in the top of the fifth. Of the 13 straight batters, Varela-Payne retired five were by strikeout.
 
CU's 4-0 lead held up until the top of the sixth when GSU got a run on an RBI groundout to break up the shutout bid.
 
Glenville State added a run in the seventh inning, but Varela-Payne picked his 10^th strikeout of the game, a new career high, to end the game.
 
Concord finished with six hits. Cannon was 2-for-3 with the home run and three RBI.
 
Varela-Payne (7-4) dominated in another complete game. Varela-Payne allowed five hits, two runs (one earned), walked just one and struck out 10. His 10 strikeouts was the first such game for a CU pitcher since junior Jake Robinson had a 10-strikeout contest in 2024 against Davis & Elkins.
 
Game 2: Glenville State 15 - Concord 14
After Concord scored the game's first run in the bottom of the first inning, GSU scored 12 straight runs in the second and third innings.
 
However, the Mountain Lions got busy on the comeback trail beginning in the bottom of the third.
 
Back-to-back hits from senior infielder Andrew LaPerle and N. DiSanti put two on to start the frame. Senior outfielder Dawson Gragg stepped up and laced a double down the right field line to score LaPerle. Then, two more runs scored on an error as the inning continued. Senior catcher Austin Hear capped the rally demolishing a three-run homer to cut the lead to 12-7 after a six-run third inning for CU.
 
Glenville State tacked on another in the top of the fourth inning, making it 13-7.
 
Concord continued to claw its way back in. Another error scored two Mountain Lion runs and, Hear drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 13-10 with three full innings to play.
 
 
Down 15-10, back-to-back hit by pitches put two runners on for junior infielder Dawson Maynard to launch a ball to right center field that carried out for a three-run home run. With this, Concord was within two, 15-13.
 
The Mountain Lions' bullpen held GSU scoreless in the sixth and seventh inning to keep the game within reach.
 
With one out in the seventh, N. DiSanti walked, Gragg singled and then Maynard walked. Bostic drove in one run with a fielder's choice to make the score at 15-14. However, the Pioneers picked up a game-ending strikeout, leaving the tying run at third.
 
Gragg went 2-for-2, reaching base all five times and scoring four runs. N. DiSanti, LaPerle, Maynard and Cannon each had two-hit games. Hear drove in four runs to lead CU.
 
Freshman RHP Jonah Adams (4-7) was charged the loss. Adams tossed 1.2 innings, allowing seven hits and six runs.
 
The Mountain Lions head to Glenville State for the last two regular season games this Sunday at 1:00 p.m.