ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University baseball team broke out the heavy artillery here Sunday afternoon, plating 24 runs on 25 hits in sweeping a Mountain East Conference doubleheader from visiting West Liberty.

    The Mountain Lions (15-12, 11-1) handed Coach Eric Burkle's Hilltoppers (9-18, 5-7) an 11-1 setback in the opener before prevailing, 13-10, in a second-game slugfest.

    Ty Helmke led off the first game with a solo home run but it was all Concord the rest of the way. The Hilltoppers added just three singles - two off the bat of James Salvatori - to Helmke's blast while the Mountain Lions scored three runs in the bottom of the first and broke the game open with a 7-run rally in the bottom of the fifth.

    In the second game, West Liberty batted around in the top of the second to take a 6-0 lead but Concord responded with five runs in the bottom of the inning and added five more in the third to go up 10-6. The Hilltoppers closed the gap to 10-9 with three runs in the top of the fourth but the Mountain Lions added one more in the fourth and two more in the sixth to hold the visitors at bay.

    Jake Sherman doubled and singled twice for West Liberty while Trevor Thomas chased home three runs with a home run and single. Salvatori added two more base knocks, Will Balgo crushed a three-run homer, Hunter Cottrell delivered a pinch-hit RBI double and Helmke singled and drove in two as part of WLU's 12-hit attack.

    The Hilltoppers will try to get back on track Tuesday when they host Shepherd in a 9-inning non-conference game. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Kovalick Field.

BASEBALL

Concord 11, West Liberty 1

West Liberty                   100 000 0 -   1  4  3

Concord                           301 070 x - 11  8  0

     WLU: Dobson lp (4SO, 4W), Geis (5) (1SO, 0W) and Cottrell. Salvatori 2S; Helmke HR, rbi

     CU: Sanso (0SO, 0W), Blake wp (10SO, 3W) and Steel. Keenan D, S, 3rbi; Satcher 2D; Christian T, 2rbi; Saryeldin S, 2rbi; Layne S, rbi

Concord 13, West Liberty 10

West Liberty                060 301 0 - 10  12  1

Concord                        055 102 x - 13  17  3

     WLU: Conley lp (0SO, 1W), Winter (3) (3SO, 2W), Graebe (6) (0SO, 0W) and Z.Hawkins, Jackson (6). Sherman D, 2S; Thomas HR, S, 3rbi; Salvatori 2S; Balgo HR, 3rbi; Cottrell D, rbi; Helmke S, 2rbi

     CU: Hunter (0SO, 0W), Keenan (2) (1SO, 1W), Brady wp (4) (1SO, 1W), Nicholas (6) (1SO, 0W), Neff (7) (2SO, 0W) and Steel. Saryeldin HR, D, S, 6rbi; Keenan D, 2S; Christian D, 2S; Layne D, S; Hunter 2S, 2rbi; Brady S, 2rbi; Nicholas D, rbi; Satcher S, rbi