Late Crusader Comeback Beats Baseball
The Lions’ baseball team lost to Belmont Abbey, 12-9 Tuesday afternoon at Henderson Field.
MARS HILL, N.C. – The Lions' baseball team lost to Belmont Abbey, 12-9 Tuesday afternoon at Henderson Field. Mars Hill fell to 16-23 overall while the Crusaders improved to 17-23 on the season.
Dalton Eisenbath and Alex Zachary led MHU with three hits apiece. Zachary added two doubles and two runs scored. Nick Villalobos went 2-5 with a double and two RBI. Andy Runion took the loss (0-3) for the Lions on the mound pitching in relief.
Ian Vazquez was 2-5 with the three-run homerun to lead the Crusaders at the plate. Anthony Dimino also tallied three RBI with a double. Matt Davenport picked up the win (2-0) throwing one inning in relief. Weston Clarke picked up his third save on the season pitching the ninth frame.
Kayden Krause gave the Crusaders a 1-0 lead in Belmont Abbey's first at-bat when he crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly by Anthony Dimino. The Lions then exploded for six runs in the bottom half of the first inning on the same number of hits and one Crusader error. The inning was highlighted by a two-RBI double from Nick Villalobos.
Alex Zachary made the score 7-1 in the third inning when he scored on a fielder's choice before Belmont Abbey added three runs of their own in the fourth inning to trim the Lions' lead to 7-4. All three of the Crusaders runs were scored by homeruns. Levi Wright hit a two-run shot and then Kennan Stanley hit a solo homerun.
Singles by Jacob Rand and Dalton Eisenbath drove in two runs in the sixth frame to extend the Lions' lead to 9-4. Rand drove in Dustin Jones who reached base on a hit-by-pitch and then Eisenbath singled to left field to plate Rand.
The Crusaders cut their deficit to one run (9-8) in the top of the seventh inning scoring four runs on five hits and one Lion miscue. The at-bat was highlighted by a two-RBI double form Dimino.
Ian Vazquez hit a three-run homerun to left field to give Belmont Abbey an 11-9 advantage in the top of the eighth inning. A two-out double by Weston Clarke drove in Dimino to make the final score 12-9 in favor of the visitors.
The Lions will return to action this weekend when they play a three-game SAC series at Lenoir-Rhyne. The teams will play at single game on Friday at 6 p.m. and then meet for a double-header at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
