Morris hits 2 Home Runs, Concord Splits at Lees-McRae - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

Freshman Alyssa Morris hit two home runs and the Concord University softball team split a pair of games against Lees-McRae in doubleheader action Wednesday afternoon.

Concord lost to LMC 6-5 in game one before rebounding with a 9-5 win in game two.

Concord now holds an overall record of 12-11 on the season. The Bobcats are 6-25 overall and 1-3 in Conference Carolinas play.

Concord was led by the duo of Morris and sophomore Lacey McDougall.

For the day, Morris combined to go 3-6 with two home runs, three runs scored and four RBI. Morris' two home runs now give her a team-best five on the season.

Morris is already just four home runs away from tying Ashley Jackson's nine home run year in 2006, for the most homers by a CU player in a season since the Mountain Lions moved to NCAA Division II.

McDougall extended her hitting streak to 12 games after finishing the day 3-for-8 with three RBI and two doubles.

Concord struck first in game one, grabbing a 5-1 lead after four innings off of RBI from sophomore Hayley Wade on a sacrifice fly in the second, a two-run shot from Morris in the third and a two-run single by sophomore Jessica Seymour in the fourth.

However, CU was held to just one hit after its initial surge at the plate, allowing Lees-McRae to edge its way into the game with two runs in the fifth inning and three more in the bottom of the seventh including a walk-off single from L Lewis

Morris finished the game 1-for-2 with two runs, two RBI and one home run. Seymour was 1-for-3 with two RBI and a stolen base from the leadoff spot.

Sophomore Lacey McDougall, junior Rachael Mack, senior Stephanie Harper and freshman Kristi Benvenuto all recorded hits with McDougall's double being the lone extra-base hit of the quartet.

McDougall fell to 5-7 for the season after allowing the six runs, four earned, and 10 hits while striking out five batters.

Concord trailed 1-0 over the opening four innings of game two until a six-run Mountain Lion fifth inning busted the game open to help CU salvage a split.

Sophomore Whitney Carrigan was the first to reach base on this crucial inning by drawing a four-pitch walk. Sophomore Brantlea Wood kept it going with a single to the Bobcats' first baseman, Seymour reached on a fielder's choice and Wade walked to load the bases with two outs. Mack then delivered a single to right field, bringing Wood and Seymour on the two-run hit.

The rally kept building when McDougall stepped up to the plate and hit a first-pitch double to left-center for the third and fourth runs of the inning leading to Morris' second home run of the day to give Concord a 6-1 lead after five innings.

Concord tacked on three more runs in the final innings thanks to a McDougall single and Seymour's first home run of season in the sixth inning as well as senior Becca Gleason scoring off of a throwing error after stealing third base in the seventh.

Lees-McRae attempted a comeback with three runs in the seventh, but Concord starter Rachael Mack was able to work out of a jam in the seventh to finish of the win.

Mack improved to 3-4 on the season after striking out three batters and scattering five runs, one earned, on 10 hits in seven innings of work.

Mack, McDougall and Morris, Concord's No. 2, 3 and 4 hitters in the batting order, combined to go 6-for-12 with seven RBI in the victory. McDougall drove in three runs while Mack and Morris accounted for two RBI each.

The Mountain Lions will return to action at West Virginia University Institute of Technology in a doubleheader on Wednesday, March 27 beginning at 12:00 p.m.