Concord Drops Doubleheader to Seton Hill 11-2, 3-2 - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

The Concord University baseball team began its 2013 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule with a pair of losses Sunday as Seton Hill University recorded a doubleheader sweep over the Mountain Lions 11-2, 3-2 at Anderson Field.

The losses drop Concord's record to 5-10 on the year and 0-2 in the WVIAC. Seton Hill improved to 6-3 overall and 2-0 in league play.

Junior Brandon Costa had three hits in the two games to pace the Mountain Lions' offense. Senior Devin Smith added two hits, one RBI and one run scored.

After Concord's 11-2 loss in game one in which CU was held scoreless until the seventh inning, the Mountain Lions regrouped to give Seton Hill all it could handle in the second game before losing 3-2 in heartbreaking fashion.

Concord junior pitchers Tyler Coyle (1-2) and Tim Leather matched Seton Hill starter Brett Sullivan pitch for pitch in the one-run game.

Coyle lasted 5.1 innings, giving up just three runs on seven hits. Leather finished out the game for Concord with two strikeouts in a perfect 1.2 innings of work. Leather, who has a team-low ERA of 2.70, has allowed runs in just three of his seven appearances out of the Concord bullpen this year.

Offensively, Costa went 2-for-2 with the trio of junior first baseman Joey Miller, sophomore catcher T.J. Brockway and freshman Joe Camp all registering one hit. Smith and Brockway each had one RBI as well. Sophomore third baseman Ryan Johnston stole his second base of the year.

The Griffins struck first with a pair of runs in the top of the second off of a no-out two-run RBI single by Jackson Boyd. However, Concord was able to limit SHU to just the two runs in the frame thanks to solid defense that included Johnston fielding a groundball cleanly and firing a throw to catcher Charles Goss who was able to tag out Boyd as he was attempting to score from third.

The Mountain Lions offense responded with a pair of runs of its own in their half of the second. Miller led the frame off with a single that was followed by Johnston being hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second with no outs.

After a successful sacrifice by sophomore second baseman Jerrod Groves advanced Miller and Johnston to second and third, Smith drove in Miller with a sacrifice fly to make it a 2-1 game. Brockway then tied the game at 2-2 with a double to left field that plated Johnston. The inning ended when Brockway was thrown out at home off of a hit from Costa.

Coyle and Sullivan dominated the next three innings. The opposing hurlers combined to allow no runs and just three hits total over the time span.

Boyd broke the 2-2 tie with a home run in the top of the of sixth that gave Seton Hill a one-run lead and knocked Coyle from the game for Leather, who's strong showing out of the bullpen kept the CU deficit to just one run heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Smith led off the final inning by reaching first after being hit by a pitch before moving to second base off of a successful sacrifice bunt by Brockway. Camp advanced Smith, who represented the tying run, to third base via a pinch-hit single with Jacob Mays loading the bases with only one out after being hit by a pitch for the second time in the game, and 12th time on the year.

Seton Hill registered the second out of the inning when Sullivan threw Smith out at home on a fielder's choice, but freshman Andrew Seigel avoided what would have been a game-ending double play by beating SHU's catcher's throw to first to keep the bases loaded and CU alive.

 The game came down junior outfielder Bret Blevins, who battled Sullivan in a great at-bat that lasted 11 pitches, including four consecutive foul balls, before eventually striking out to give Seton Hill the 3-2 win.

Concord travels to Wheeling Jesuit for a doubleheader 1:00 p.m. Tuesday.