Lions Split Doubleheader With Newberry

MARS HILL, N.C. – The Mars Hill baseball team split a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader with Newberry at Henderson Field on Monday, dropping the opener 7-4 in extra innings and holding off a late rally for a 6-4 victory in the nightcap. Mars Hill improves to 7-14 overall and 4-10 in the league; Newberry is 14-12 and 7-7.

Game One: Newberry 7, Mars Hill 4 (10 innings)

Newberry scored three runs in the 10^th inning to break a 4-4 tie.

The Lions scored first in the contest when Dalton Eisenbath drove in Phillip Carroll on a double in the second inning. Carroll reached base hitting a single up the middle.

Mars Hill took a 2-0 lead after three innings of play when Rayshelon Carolina started the at-bat with a double, was then moved to third by a deep fly ball by Dylan Powers. David King then hit a sacrifice fly to center field to drive I Carolina.

Albert Baur hit a solo homerun down the right field line in the fourth inning to cut the Lions lead to 2-1. The Wolves took the lead, 3-2 in the fifth inning on three hits and two Lion errors. Wesley Camp scored on an errant throw and then Jojo Bradley singled down the left field line to drive in D.J. Martinez.

Evan Rogers tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning hitting a solo homerun to left field.

In the Mars Hill seventh, the Lions loaded the bases with no outs but Matt Chapman worked his way out of a jam with a strikeout, popout and fielder's choice.

Jacob Bass led off the Newberry ninth with a base hit and scored on a Baur double to give the Wolves a 4-3 lead. Mars Hill answered in the home half of the frame as Carolina hit a ground-rule double to right field and scored on a Powers base hit.

Brandon Sheridan led off the 10^th inning with a double and scored on a Camp single. Robert Kosch drove home a pair of runs with a two-out double before Mars Hill went down in order in the home half of the frame.

Carolina went three-for-five with two doubles, a single and two runs scored. Eisenbath went two-for-two with a single, double and RBI. Carroll went two-for-five with two singles. Rogers went one-for-four with a run scored and RBI.

Chapman allowed one run on four hits with three strikeouts in 4.2 innings. Kaleb McCurry took the loss as he allowed one run on two hits with a walk in an inning.

Game Two: Mars Hill 6, Newberry 4

Mars Hill led 6-1 after six innings and held off a Newberry rally in the seventh for a 6-4 victory.

After a pair of strikeouts to start the inning, Dylan Powers was hit by a pitch, followed by a Phillip Carroll single. Dalton Eisenbath doubled to left center to give the Lions a 2-0 lead after an inning.

Newberry got on the board in the second as Jeff Sneed stole home.

The Lions put another pair of runs on the board in the third as Evan Rogers led off with a double, followed by a Rayshelon Carolina free pass. Carroll singled to score Rogers, followed by an Eisenbath double to plate Carolina.

In the sixth inning, Alex Zachary singled to score Christian Stampler, with Tommy Scala crossing the plate on a passed ball.

Newberry began the seventh inning with a double and catcher's interference, followed by a Nolan Schrenker pinch-hit three-run home run to pull within two, 6-4. After a groundout, the Wolves loaded the bases with a walk, an error and a single. Nick Villalobos came on in relief and induced the game-ending double play.

Carroll and Eisenbath each went two-for-three to lead the Lions, with Eisenbath reaching on two doubles and driving in three runs.

Zac Brown earned his second win of the year, allowing four runs, three earned, on nine hits with a walk and six strikeouts in 6.1 innings. Villalobos earned the save as he retired the final two batters. Alex Roberts took the loss, allowing six runs, five earned, on eight hits with a walk and five strikeouts in six innings.

Mars Hill will host Pfeiffer in a non-conference double-header at Henderson Field on Tuesday, March 17. The first contest is set to start at 2 p.m.