Concord baseball beats Fairmont State 4-1 in MEC tourney
May 13—BECKLEY — The Concord University baseball team raced out to a 4-1 lead through two innings on its way to a 12-2 win over Fairmont State Thursday night at Epling Stadium in the Mountain East Conference Tournament.
After Fairmont State (27-21) scratched across a run in the top of the first, Concord (32-17-1) broke out for three runs in its first at-bat. Freshman infielder/pitcher MJ Hunter lined a double into the right field corner to start the rally. Fifth-year senior infielder Anthony Stehlin followed with his fourth home run of the year.
Junior outfielder Kyle Keenan made it three straight extra-base hits by roping a double into left field. and sophomore infielder Zack Saryeldin capped the rally by singling to bring in Keenan.
Two more runs came in to score in the third.
Sophomore infielder Daniel Layne's RBI single plated sophomore infielder Chris Satcher after his leadoff double. Later in the inning, junior outfielder Josh Adkins started his big night at the plate with a run-scoring hit.
Out to a 6-2 lead, the Maroon and Gray went back to work in the sixth inning with three more runs.
A well-executed double steal allowed Adkins score before Stehlin drove in his fourth run of the night. Satcher completed the inning with his team-best 48th RBI of the season to bring in Stehlin.
Concord tacked on two more runs in the seventh with one on an Adkins triple to the opposite field. Concord was able to run rule FSU in the eighth on a single by Layne that scored Keenan.
The run support was more than enough for Concord starter and sophomore Andrew Neff. He improved to 9-4 on the mound—the first CU pitcher with nine or more wins in a season since 2001. Neff went the distance for his ninth complete game of the season, which ties for the most in Division II this year.
Neff scattered six hits and two runs (one earned) while striking out nine.
Adkins, Satcher and Stehlin all had three hits. Stehlin drove in four runs while Adkins and Layne each recorded two RBI.
Concord stole eight bases in the game which was one off the single-game program record. Adkins and sophomore outfielder D.J. Christian both had three steals. Layne added two stolen bases.
The Mountain Lions play Frostburg State 7 p.m. tonight.
This week's MEC baseball tournament will mark the last one for longtime Concord baseball coach Kevin Garrett, who plans to retire from coaching at the end of the current Mountain Lions season.
