Game One - Box Score
Game Two - Box Score
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Tim Ponn (Strasburg, Va. / Strasburg) provided yet another solid effort on the mound for Charleston as he led the Golden Eagle’s baseball team to a West Virginia Conference doubleheader sweep over perennial southern division power Concord, Friday afternoon.
Leading hitter John Schraer (Cincinnati, Ohio / Anderson) put UC on the board early with an RBI single to leftfield in the bottom of the first inning to plate Nick Barnes (Strasburg, Va. / Strasburg) for a 1-0 lead.
The single-run was all the support Ponn needed in a complete game seven-hit shutout, but the Charleston offense gave him extra support in the form of three insurance runs in the fifth inning. In the fifth the top of the Golden Eagles order found an offensive groove against Mountain Lion starter Ryan Weatherholtz with Ross Easterling (Logan, W.Va. / Logan), Andy Stichter (Inglis, Fla. / Dunnellon) and Schraer all booked RBIs to set the 4-0 score.
Stitcher paced the University of Charleston at the plate with a 3-for-3 performance and one RBI, while Barnes and Schraer each collected two-hits apiece.
Concord put the first runs on the scoreboard in game two as Bret Blevins tagged UC starter Anthony Pagano (Plantation, Fla. / Coral Springs Christian) for a two-RBI double. UC responded in the bottom of the first by using a Mountain Lion passed ball to continue the inning on a Schraer strikeout, which would allow Charleston to knot the score at 2-2 on a Garrett Proctor (Fleming, Ohio / Vincent-Warren) RBI single.
Easterling handed the University of Charleston its first lead of the game by driving home Ryan Foster (Cincinnati, Ohio / Colerain) on an RBI single to rightfield. Foster led the inning off with a single to centerfield before stealing second base, while advancing to third on a throwing error by the catcher.
CU seemingly broke the game open with four runs on six hits off Pagano in the top of the fourth inning to take a 6-3 advantage. Reliever Frankie Mullens (South Charleston, W.Va. / South Charleston) came on in relief of Pagano to keep Charleston within striking distance, which proved key over the next two innings.
In the bottom of the fourth, UC cut the Mountain Lion lead to 6-5 as Barnes ripped a two-out single to leftfield. The Charleston charge continued with back-to-back two-RBI doubles off the bats of Ryan Hathaway (Fredericktown, Ohio / Fredericktown) and Easterling to take a 9-6 lead. The Golden Eagles bullpen held the lead as Corey Lakatos (Holden, W.Va. / Logan) and Christian Turnipseed (Powder Springs, Ga. / Harrison) took over for Mullens to seal the victory.
The final run came for UC as Proctor drove home Schraer to set the final score at 10-6.
Easterling took a stranglehold on the top of the batting order with a solid 3-for-3 effort with three RBIs and two runs scored to pace Charleston. Proctor and Sage Iacovone (Liberty Township, Ohio / Moeller) each finished with two-hits.
Charleston has now won four-straight WVIAC games entering a nine-inning contest at Concord on Sunday, April 17 at 1:00 pm.
