Baseball Crushes Bluefield State
Mars Hill swept Bluefield State College in a non-conference baseball double-header Wednesday afternoon at Bowen Field.
BLUEFIELD, Va. – Mars Hill swept Bluefield State College in a non-conference baseball double-header Wednesday afternoon at Bowen Field. The Lions won the first game 17-2 and then won game two by a 17-0 margin. Mars Hill belted out 36 hits in the two contests. The Lions set new season highs in runs scored in a single game, hits in a single game, triples in a single game (3) and stolen bases in a single game (5). The Lions improved to 22-17 on the year while the Blues fell to 10-16 on the season.
Game 1: MHU 17, BSC 2
Brett Brubaker went 3-5 with a homerun, a double and six RBI to lead the Lions at the plate. The six RBI tied Brubaker's previous season high set against Southern Wesleyan on March 30, 2017. Travis Owens followed going 2-4 with a grand slam homerun. Daniel Vitello went 3-4 at the plate with a triple, an RBI and five runs scored. The five runs scored set a new season high. Troy Hall threw six innings allowing just four hits and two runs to pick up his third win (3-2) on the year.
Kevon Moxey went 2-2 at the plate with a homerun and two RBI to lead the Blues offensively. Brandon Wortkoetter suffered the loss (0-7) for Bluefield State on the mound.
Mars Hill jumped out to a 2-0 lead in their first at-bat on two hits and one BSC error. Brubaker had an RBI in the inning.
MHU then added four runs in the third stanza on six hits to lead 6-0. Brubaker doubled to left-center field in the fourth inning to plate Vitello and Hunter Merrill to extend the Lions' lead to 8-0.
After Moxey's two-run homerun in the fifth inning, the Lions answered scoring five runs in the sixth frame on four hits highlighted by a triple from Vitello and a two-run homerun from Brubaker. Owens grand slam ended the scoring in the contest in the Lions' last at-bat to make the final tally 17-2.
Game 2: MHU 17, BSC 0
Shomarii Thomas shined at the plate in the nightcap going 4-5 with a homerun, a pair of doubles, four RBI and three runs scored. Barrett Hennings also had a solid day at the plate going a perfect 4-4 with a homerun, a double two RBI and three runs scored. Matt Honeycutt went 3-3 while Cody Cline and Vitello posted two hits and two RBI apiece. Cline added a triple while Vitello belted a double and a triple. Blaine Farrell pitched 4.0 innings allowing just a single hit while striking out four batters to obtain the win (3-3) on the mound for the Lions. Lane Grant threw the final inning and struck out the side for MHU.
Justin Bowler went 2-3 to pace the Blues at the plate. Cole Blocker took the loss (0-2) on the mound for Bluefield State.
Mars Hill exploded for five runs in the first inning highlighted by an RBI triple by Vitello and a two-RBI triple from Cline. A two-run homerun by Hennings and a solo homerun by Thomas in the third inning extended the Lions' advantage to 8-0.
After scoring a single run in the fourth inning, MHU put five more runs on the board in the fifth frame on six hits to lead 14-0. Thomas and Vitello recorded RBI doubles in the at-bat. The Lions added three runs in the last inning on the same number of hits and one Blues' error to make the final score 17-0 in favor of the visitors. Thomas hit a two-RBI double in his final at-bat.
Mars Hill will host SAC foe Catawba this weekend in a three-game South Atlantic Conference series. The teams will meet for a double-header on Saturday at 1 p.m. and then play a single game on Sunday, also beginning at 1 p.m.
