Lions Win Sixth Straight With Offensive Barrage

YOUNG HARRIS, GA. – Senior outfielders Rayshelon Carolina and Phillip Carroll garnered career-days at the plate to lead the Mars Hill Lions baseball team to its sixth consecutive win. Carolina went 5-for-7 at the dish and drove in four RBIs while Carroll finished 4-of-5 with three knocked in to help guide the Blue and Gold to a 16-10 win over Young Harris College on Wednesday, March 16 at Zell B. Miller Field.

Brett Brubaker went 3-for-6 on the afternoon, collecting two RBIs and Evan Rogers tallied a couple hits and a RBI. Daniel Vitello and Dalton Eisenbath chipped in two hits each. The Lions pounded out a season-high 22 hits to improve to 20-8 overall while YHC dropped to 8-15.

Coming off a season-high 20-run outburst in the opening game of the series, the Lions wasted no time jumping all over Young Harris, butchering YHC pitchers for seven runs in the initial frame. Carolina made two plate appearances in the top of the first, collecting two hits and a RBI. Vitello made the highlight reel play of the inning with a steal of home. Four different Lions contributed RBIs in the first.

Young Harris tacked on two in the bottom of the first to cut the deficit to 7-2, but MHU got those pair of runs back and added two more on top of it to sit comfortably ahead 11-2 after just an inning and a half of play.

After a scoreless third inning for both sides, Mars Hill posted three more runs in the top of the fourth to extend its lead to 14-2. Over the next three at-bats Young Harris scored a total of seven runs to trail only 14-9 heading into the latter third of the contest.

However, just as they have done all year, the Lions had an answer in the top of innings seven and eight. Logan Conley led the seventh off by getting plunked before Carroll roped a ball to left center to drive him home. In the eighth, Eisenbath stroked a double to left center before coming around to score on another two-bagger, this time off the bat of Brubaker.

The Mountain Lions added a single run on a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth, but that would be the end of the scoring as Mars Hill collected the win 16-10.

Over the two games against Young Harris, the Lions scored 36 runs while connecting on 40 hits and batting .430 as a team.

Mars Hill will return to action on Friday, March 18 as they welcome South Atlantic Conference foe Anderson to Don Henderson field. First pitch is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m.