Concord Bested By Shippensburg, 11-7 - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

Junior first baseman Joey Miller drove in two runs on his fourth home run of the season and junior outfielder Bret Blevins added two RBI of his own, but it wasn't quite enough as the Concord University baseball team dropped an 11-7 decision to Shippensburg University Sunday.

The loss, Concord's third in as many games to Shippensburg, drops the Mountain Lions' record to 5-8. Shippensburg's record now stands at 7-1.

Concord jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but the Red Raiders countered with back-to-back one-run innings in the second and third before a four-run fourth and a three-run fifth gave SU a commanding 9-3 lead.

The Mountain Lions tacked on four runs in the seventh, but managed just one hit over the final two innings while Shippensburg added two insurance runs in CU's four-run defeat.

Miller was 2-for-4 with two runs scored in addition to his two RBI. Blevins added a stolen base, one run scored and a hit to his two-RBI day. Senior outfielder Devin Smith and junior catcher Brandon Costa were responsible for Concord's other two RBI.

After a Blevins walk with two outs in the first inning, Miller launched a home run to left center on a 1-2 count to give CU the early 2-0 lead.

The Red Raiders tied the game at 2-2 over the following two innings before Concord retook the lead in the top of the fourth inning thanks to a Smith RBI that scored Miller, who had reached base earlier in the inning with a walk.

Shippensburg responded with eight runs through the next three innings to establish a 10-3 lead after six innings.

Concord answered back with a four-run seventh inning. In addition to freshman outfielder Joe Camp scoring on a wild pitch, the inning featured an RBI-hit from Costa and a two-run single from Blevins to whittle the deficit down to just three runs at 10-7.

However, Shippensburg widened its lead to four runs when Pat Kregeloh led off the eighth inning with a solo home run while Concord managed just one hit in the final two innings on the way to the 11-7 loss.

Junior pitcher Tyler Zimm fell to 1-1 on the season after giving up four runs in 3.1 innings for the Mountain Lions. After relief appearances from sophomore Kevin Mack and junior Tim Leather, junior Chris Baker was on the mound for the final four innings. Baker struck out five batters and scattered six hits and two runs.

Concord opens up West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference competition March 9-10 against Seton Hill at Anderson Field. CU and the Griffins will play a doubleheader Saturday and a single game on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. on both days.