BECKLEY, W.Va. – The University of Charleston will enter Sunday’s Mountain East Conference Baseball Championship Game with an unbeaten 3-0 record following a win over Concord on Saturday afternoon, while Glenville State survived a pair of elimination games against Frostburg State and Concord to advance to Sunday’s championship. The Pioneers will need two victories over Charleston to win the league crown.
Sunday’s MEC Championship game is set for a 1 p.m. first pitch at Epling Stadium in Beckley. If GSU wins the 1 p.m. game, the “If Necessary” game is set for 4:30 p.m.
Game 7: Charleston 15, Concord 1 | Box Score
The University of Charleston punched its ticket to the 2022 Mountain East Conference Tournament Championship game with a one-sided 15-1 victory over Concord on Saturday afternoon to begin day three of the MEC Baseball Tournament in Beckley.
Charleston racked up 15 runs and 17 hits in the victory, including five doubles. Giano Zuccaro led the Golden Eagles by going 4-for-4 with six runs batted-in and a run scored. Brayden McCallister also went 3-for-3 with one RBI and four runs scored. UC also got two hits apiece from Tyler Dellerman, Braxton Boddorf and Erie Chartier.
Owen MacNeil (7-2) put together an outstanding outing on the hill for the Golden Eagles, pitching a complete game allowing one run on five hits while striking out seven. MacNeil improved to 7-2 with the win.
Concord, who came into the game with 22 runs and 30 hits in its first two tournament games, was limited to just one run and five hits in this afternoon’s winners bracket final. Anthony Stehlin led the Mountain Lions by going 3-for-4 with a home run and a double.
Game 8: Glenville State 8, Frostburg State 7 | Box Score
In this afternoon’s elimination game between Glenville State and Frostburg State, the Pioneers used a two-run home run by Calen Kampes in the seventh inning to stay alive in the 2022 MEC Baseball Tournament in Beckley.
With Glenville State leading 6-1 following a Zach Morris solo home run in the fourth inning, Frostburg State rallied to tie the game in the sixth. Frostburg State’s first run was plated on a passed ball that allowed Danny Estrada to come home from third. With GSU still leading by four, A.J. Campbell blasted a grand slam to left field to knot the score at 6-6.
One inning later during Glenville State’s at-bat, Trevon Smith was hit by a pitch to put a runner on. Kampes followed up the at-bat with a two-run home run to left center – putting the Pioneers in front by an 8-6 advantage.
The score remained the same until the top of the ninth when Frostburg State loaded the bases with no outs. Ethan Kiple drove in a run on a fielder’s choice to third base that allowed Estrada to touch home safely for the second time in the game. However, a groundout and strikeout ended the game with the Pioneers in front, 8-7.
The Pioneers totaled 12 hits in the victory, including three from Morris, and two apiece from Kampes, Mathew Mangum and Hunter Brown. Mangum drove in three runs for the GSU.
Frostburg State finished the game with eight hits, including a 3-of-5 performance from Trevor Jones and a 2-for-4 performance from Estrada.
Game 9: Glenville State 8, Concord 5 | Box Score
After edging Frostburg State in the first elimination game of the day, Glenville State advanced to the MEC tournament championship game with an 8-6 win over Concord on Saturday night at Epling Stadium in Beckley. The Pioneers scored a run in six of the nine innings and 18 of 32 Pioneer batters reached base in the win. The Pioneers had 10 hits.
Glenville State opened the game with a 3-0 lead after one inning of play and ballooned the advantage to a 5-0 lead by the end of the third inning.
Colby Werry and Trevon Smith led the Pioneers at the plate with three hits apiece in the victory. Fabian Escalante added two hits and an RBI for GSU.
Concord was led at the plate by Anthony Stehlin and D.J. Christian. Stehlin batted 2-for-5 with a double and two runs batted-in, while Christian went 2-for-4 with a run scored.