Mountain Lions Sweep Wheeling Jesuit 12-7, 11-0 - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

The Concord University baseball team snapped its five-game losing streak with a dominating doubleheader sweep of Wheeling Jesuit, 12-7, 11-0, Thursday afternoon at Anderson Field in West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.

The victories improve Concord's record to 7-10 on the year and 2-2 in the WVIAC. Wheeling Jesuit falls to 5-10 on the season and 2-2 in league play with the losses.

Concord's offense put together a pair of its top offensive games of the year. In two games Concord out hit Wheeling Jesuit 27-17, at least seven players had a hit in each game and the Mountain Lions combined to steal 13 bases.

For the day, freshman outfielder Andrew Seigel was 5-for-9 with four runs scored, one RBI and two stolen bases.

Junior outfielder Bret Blevins and senior outfielder/pitcher Devin Smith both tallied four hits with Smith driving in three runs and Blevins swiping four bases.

Wheeling Jesuit took a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the third inning in game one, but Concord made the most of its opponent's three errors to tack on five runs in the inning and surge ahead 6-5. CU did all of its damage in the inning with two outs.

The Cardinals tied the game at 6-6 in the fourth before the Mountain Lions exploded for six runs in the fifth to take a commanding 12-6 lead en route to the eventual 12-7 victory.

Concord's big sixth inning saw the Maroon and Gray once again do its best work with two outs as Seigel, Smith, Blevins and senior shortstop Josh Wenger all strung together back-to-back run-scoring hits when CU was down to its final out in the frame.

Junior pitcher Chris Baker came on in relief of starting pitcher Tyler Zimm in the third inning and proceeded to give up just one run on seven hits over the next four innings to earn his first win of the season.

Sophomore third baseman Ryan Johnston went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI to lead the offensive explosion. Seigel, Smith and senior Jacob Mays added two hits each with Smith adding two stolen bases.

The Mountain Lions carried over their momentum from game one into game two in fine fashion. Concord's offense scored runs in each inning while the pitching trio of Smith, junior Will Zuspan and sophomore Cody Justus combined for the three-hit shutout.

Smith, who was making his first start on the mound since Feb. 17, improved his record to 1-2 after surrendering just one hit over five innings while striking out three batters for the win. Smith, who also drove in two runs at the plate, carried a no-hitter into the fourth inning.

Zuspan and Justus each worked an inning in relief.

Seigel, Blevins and sophomore second baseman Jerrod Groves all posted three-hit games. Groves also drove in three runs while Blevins and Seigel combined for five stolen bases.

Freshman catcher Charlie Goss drove in three runs from the ninth spot in the Concord batting order.

As a team, Concord out hit WJU 14-3 in game two.

Concord will look to extend its winning streak to four games with a sweep of Glenville State Thursday at Anderson Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.