Concord moves into tie for first in MEC South with 9-1, 8-1 victories at Charleston
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Concord University baseball team picked up 9-1 and 8-1 wins over Charleston on the road Saturday night in a Mountain East Conference doubleheader at the Welch Athletic Complex.
Concord improves to 21-23 overall while Charleston is 18-25. The teams are now tied for first in the MEC South at 15-9.
Game 1: Concord 9 – Charleston 1
Seven runs over the first two innings, including five in the second, from the Concord offense overwhelmed the Golden Eagles.
After two quick outs to start the game, the Mountain Lions had the next two batters reach via a walk and an error to set the stage for senior outfielder Korbin Bostic to come through with a two-run double down the left field line.
Up a pair of runs, CU broke the game open in the top of the second inning.
The first four batters of the inning reached as senior infielder Matthew DiSanti brought in senior catcher Austin Hear on an RBI single. Senior outfielder Dawson Gragg re-loaded the bases with a walk, and the next two batters produced a run as freshman outfielder Lucas Cannon reached on a fielder’s choice to score a run. Bostic followed by drawing a bases-loaded walk. A second straight walk to junior infielder Dawson Maynard brought in a run, and the inning was capped by a sacrifice fly from freshman outfielder Jared Lavergne.
Seven runs of support were more than enough for sophomore pitcher Kaden Varela-Payne as he did not allow a hit until a two-out single in the fourth inning.
Senior infielder Sam Stowe led off the third with his fifth home run of the season, and the ninth run for the Mountain Lions came on a sacrifice fly by DiSanti in the fifth.
Varela-Payne (6-4) sailed to his sixth victory of the year as he allowed a run on two hits over five innings. He struck out six. Freshman pitcher Ethan Evans recorded five of the final six outs of the game out of the bullpen. Evans notched four strikeouts.
CU only had five hits in the contest. Bostic racked up three RBI to bring his season total to 50. DiSanti drove in two runs.
Game 2: Concord 8 – Charleston 1
Another five-run inning and a strong performance on the mound from freshman pitcher Jonah Adams were the differences in the nightcap.
Already up 2-0 heading to the fifth inning, Concord busted the game open with five tallies.
A bunt single by Cannon loaded the bases in the fifth as four of the first five batters reached base in the inning after Maynard came up with an RBI single in right field. The lead grew to 4-0 as Gragg raced in on a wild pitch. With runners on second and third, Lavergne lined a single off the pitcher that brought in Cannon, and Maynard touched home on a run-scoring double by senior catcher Austin Hear. The fifth and final run scored on a sacrifice fly by Stowe.
For the second straight start, Adams was stellar on the hill as he tossed 6.1 shutout innings before a sacrifice fly kept him from his first career complete-game shutout. But, Adams did go the distance for the first time in his career as he improved to 4-6. He struck out three and scattered six hits, only one was for extra bases.
Hear tacked on an RBI single in the top of the seventh. He finished 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI. Maynard was 2-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI.
The Mountain Lions go for their fourth straight series win, needing only a split Sunday afternoon. First pitch for the doubleheader is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
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