BECKLEY, W.Va. — Wheeling University was limited to five hits in a 15-1 loss to Concord in an opening round game of the Mountain East Conference baseball tournament Thursday afternoon at Epling Stadium.

The top seed in the north (27-13) will now play West Virginia State today at noon in an elimination game. West Virginia State, the top seed in the south, was upset by Alderson Broaddus 6-5 in the first game of the day.

Concord (16-21) set the tone early with four singles to start the game and collect a 2-0 lead.

Wheeling got one run back on a two-out RBI double by senior third baseman Luis Dominguez in the bottom of the first.

The run was the only offense the Cardinals generated all game. Concord’s Tyler Abernathy ended up going the distance and limited Wheeling to the one run on five hits with nine strikeouts. He issued two walks.

Abernathy got more than enough run support from the Mountain Lions. Concord scored in six of the nine frames, including three innings of three runs or more.

Dominguez led the Cardinals with two hits.

Sophomore pitcher Jared Naida was tagged with his first loss of the season. Naida (5-1) allowed six runs on six hits over 3.1 innings of work. The Cardinals entered the day 9-0 in game’s started by Naida this season.

WLU Loses

BECKLEY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University baseball team dropped an 18-1 decision to nationally-ranked Charleston here Thursday in the opening round of the Mountain East Conference Tournament at Linda K. Epling Stadium.

Coach Eric Burkle’s Hilltoppers (20-19), the No. 2 seed from the MEC North Division, will play No. 3 seed Alderson-Broaddus (19-17) today at 3:30 p.m. in the second game of the double-elimination tournament for both teams. The Battlers opened their postseason run with a 6-5 upset of West Virginia State on Thursday.

Logan Campbell teamed with two Golden Eagle relievers to keep the Hilltopper offense in check. Seven West Liberty players had one hit – all singles – with Chad Matthus’ 2-out RBI base knock in the top of the seventh putting the only run on the board.

Friday’s surprising schedule opens with the tournament’s two top seeds – West Virginia State (28-9) and Wheeling (27-13) – meeting in an elimination game at noon. Concord (16-21), the No. 3 seed from the South, blasted Wheeling by a 15-1 count in Thursday’s second game.