SALEM, Va. – The Frostburg State softball team picked up its first ever MEC tournament win against Concord in the opening game of the tournament. Frostburg, the number two seed from the North, defeated the three seed from the South by a final of 6-4. In game two of the day, Frostburg would fall to West Virginia State 5-2. Sophomore Brianna Powell led the Bobcats with two hits, four RBI and two stolen bases in game one.
Frostburg sent sophomore Shawna Leonard to the circle to start the game and she did not disappoint. Through the first five innings, Leonard remained untouched and only faced 16 batters altogether. It took the Bobcats until the bottom of the fourth to break things open in the game. Junior Ava Gnibus and senior Sam Carver earned back-to-back walks to start the inning. Senior Aliyah Ramey also drew a walk in the inning to load the bases. Powell singled to the gap in right center to knock in two runs. First-year Katie Ernst later doubled to knock in two more Bobcat runs making the score 4-0.
Again, in the bottom of the fifth Powell had a single that was able to score Carver and Gnibus and make the lead 6-0. Concord was able to put together a rally in the sixth scoring four runs. The Bobcats brought in first-year Sierra Sanderson to finish off the game to give Frostburg the 6-4 win.
The Bobcats' second game of the day came against the number one team from the South division West Virginia State. Earlier in the day the Yellow Jackets defeated Notre Dame 4-1. Senior Kat Treff went 4-4 and scored both the runs for the Bobcats.
Treff led things off with an infield single and was then later able to score on a Carver single making the score 1-0. The Bobcats added to the lead in the third inning when again Treff led off with a single and was again knocked in on a Carver single.
First-year Sydney Theobald started game two for the Bobcats and only game up two hits through the first five innings. The Yellow Jackets finally were able to break through in the sixth and put together a five-run inning. The Bobcats did bring the tying run to the plate in the seventh but were unable to produce any runs, falling to the Yellow Jackets 5-2.
The Bobcats will play again tomorrow at noon against West Virginia Wesleyan. For more information, please visit frostburgsports.com.