Lions drop SAC contest versus Lenoir-Rhyne
Seven unanswered runs were the downfall for the Mars Hill baseball team as they lost to Lenoir-Rhyne Friday evening, 9-6, in South Atlantic Conference action.
HICKORY, N.C. - Seven unanswered runs were the downfall for the Mars Hill baseball team as they lost to Lenoir-Rhyne Friday evening, 9-6, in South Atlantic Conference action.
The Lions (5-16-1, 2-8 SAC) led 6-2 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning. The Bears pulled within two runs with two RBI singles from Justin Dean and Alex Reyolds. Dean's single advanced Brock Johnson to third and while advancing to second, an errant throw from Mars Hill allowed Johnson to round third and come home for the Bears' third run of the game.
In the fifth, Lenoir-Rhyne (18-9, 7-3 SAC) tied the game with two more runs. Zack Shoemaker's RBI single drove in Caleb Beatty and moved Will Jones to third. Johnson plated Jones with a sacrifice fly to center field to knot the game at six.
A two-run homerun from Marcus Shoemaker in the bottom of the seventh gave the Bears their first lead of the game. Zack Shoemaker tacked on a RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to give Lenoir-Rhyne the 9-6 advantage. Landon Whitson was brought in at the top of the ninth. A walk to Brett Brubaker and Cody Cline put two Lions on the base paths and were later moved into scoring position off of a wild pitch. Whitson's third strikeout of inning closed the game for the Bears.
Mars Hill struck first, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning. Brubaker's sacrifice fly scored Travis Owens to put up the first run of the day on the scoreboard. Later in the inning, Shomarii Thomas singled to right field and advanced to second on a throwing error. Christian Stampler was able to round third and score off of the error. Matt Honeycutt also scored, giving Mars Hill the early 3-0 lead.
Aaron Stamper cut into the Mars Hill lead with a RBi single that scored Dean for the Bear's first run. Reaching on a fielder's choice, Jones was able to plate Alex Reynolds to trail Mars Hill 3-2 entering the second inning.
Two scoreless innings went by the wayside when Mars Hill's offense came alive in the top of the fourth inning. Owens hammered a two-run homerun to right-center field and was followed by Stampler's solo shot to give Mars Hill a 6-2 lead.
Cline, Stampler and Thomas each had two hits to lead the Lions offensively. Owens had a team-high two RBIs. Reynolds and Johnson led all players with three hits each. The Shoemaker duo each had two RBIs.
Kaleb McCurry suffered the loss, pitching 0.1 inning and giving up one run on one hit. Nolan Flachofsky earned his second win of the year, going 1.1 innings, striking out three and allowing only one hit.
The Lions fall to on the year while Lenoir-Rhyne improves to).
The teams take the field on Saturday, March 17 in double-header action to conclude the weekend series. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 1 p.m. Game two is slated for a 4 p.m. start.