Baseball drops double-header to Millersville

MARS HILL, N.C. – The Lions' baseball team dropped a double-header to Millersville on Sunday afternoon at Henderson Field. Mars Hill fell to 8-7 on the season while the Marauders improved to 8-3 on the year.

Game 1: MU 8, MHU 5

Matt Honeycutt led the Lions at the plate going 1-2 with a homerun and two RBI. Both Brett Brubaker and Hunter Merrill went 1-3 with doubles. Brubaker added a RBI. Kaleb McCurry suffered the loss (1-2) pitching the final 1.1 innings in relief.

Chas McCormick led the Marauders going 3-4 with a double and two RBI. Mitch Stoltzfus recorded three hits and a pair of RBI. Mike Mock obtained the win (2-0) pitching the last two innings of the contest. He allowed only one hit and no runs.

A single by Lance Edwards in the second inning drove in Christian Stampler and the Lions took a 1-0 lead. Harrison Keslar singled up the middle in the Lions' fourth at-bat to plate Travis Owens and extend Mars Hill's lead to 2-0.

Ted Williams scored Jimmy Cain on a fielder's choice in the fifth inning to make the score 2-1. Mars Hill scored three runs in the bottom half of the fifth frame after Brubaker hit a RBI double and Honeycutt hit a two-run homerun down the left field line and the Lions enjoyed a 5-1 advantage.

Cain hit a sacrifice fly to left field to send Stoltzfus home and cut the deficit to 5-2 after Millersville's sixth at-bat. The Marauders scored three runs in the seventh inning on four hits. Mars Hill went down in order in the bottom of the seventh and the game went into extra innings. The Marauders put another three runs on the board in the top of the eighth inning to seal the win. McCormick highlighted the at-bat hitting a two-RBI double that scored what would later prove to be the game winning run. The Lions were unable to push any runs across in the bottom half of the inning as Millersville held on to the 8-5 win.

Game 2: MU 13, MHU 6

Errors plagued the Lions in game two as only four of the Marauders 13 runs were earned. Daniel Vitello, Brubaker and Austin Purser had RBI singles in the game. Devon Mangum was 1-3 with a triple and a run scored. Troy Hall took the loss (0-2) on the mound for Mars Hill.

Ben Snyder led Millersville offensively going 3-3 with five RBI, two runs scored and a pair of doubles. David Summerfield went 2-4 with a double, two RBI and the same number of runs scored. Chris Blair picked up the win (1-0) on the mound pitching in relief for the Marauders.

Millersville jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning on three hits and two Lion errors. The Marauders added four additional runs in the second frame on three hits and one Lion miscue to enjoy an 8-0 lead. Vitello scored Owens and Stampler on a fielder's choice in the second inning to trim the Marauders lead to 8-2.

Unfortunately, Snyder belted a two-run double in the third inning to extend Millersville's lead to 10-2. The Lions kept fighting scoring two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning on two hits and one Millersville error to bring the score to 10-4.

Snyder hit another two-RBI double in the fifth inning to give the Marauders a 12-4 lead. Millersville plated their final run in the sixth inning on a wild pitch. The Lions were able to push two runs across in the bottom of the sixth inning but that was as close as they would get. Purser had a RBI single in the at-bat.

Mars Hill will host North Greenville on Tuesday, February 28. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.