Baseball Splits at Lenoir-Rhyne

HICKORY, N.C. – The Lions' split a double-header at Lenoir-Rhyne in South Atlantic Conference baseball action Saturday afternoon at Bears Field. Mars Hill took their season record to 6-17-1 overall and 3-9 in the league. The Bears are now 19-10 on the season, 8-4 in the SAC.

Game 1: MHU 11, L-R 6

Matt Honeycutt went a perfect 5-for-5 with two doubles and four RBI to lead the Lions at the plate in game one. Christian Stampler was 2-for-3 with a homerun and two RBI while Daniel Vitello went 3-for-6 with a double and a pair of RBI. Alec Bivins threw 6.2 innings scattering nine hits while striking out five batters to secure his first win (1-2) of the season.

Aaron Stamper led the Bears going 3-for-4 with a homerun and three RBI. Caleb Beatty also recorded three hits and tallied two RBI in the contest. Matt Sullivan took the loss (3-1) for the Bears on the mound.

Stampler singled to left field in the Lions' first at-bat to drive in Travis Owens and give MHU a 1-0 lead. The Bears took a 3-1 advantage in the bottom half of the first inning on the same number of hits highlighted by a two-run homerun by Stamper.

The Lions added three runs of their own in the top of the third inning on four hits and one Bear error to lead 4-3. MHU would never trail again after this point.

The Lions added two runs in the fourth and fifth innings to extend their lead to 8-3. Honeycutt hit a RBI double in the fourth frame and then Vitello had a two-run single in the fifth inning.

After the Bears pushed across one run in the bottom of the fifth inning, Stampler belted a solo homerun in the sixth before the Lions ended their scoring in the top of the seventh inning after Honeycutt drove in Vitello and Devin Mangum on a single to left field. The Bears added a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning on three hits to make the final tally 11-6 in favor of the visitors.

Game 2: L-R 4, MHU 3

Owens led MHU offensively in game two hitting a solo homerun in three at-bats. Brett Brubaker and Stampler recorded the other two hits for the Lions in the contest. Mike Ramunno suffered the loss (0-2) for the Lions on the mound pitching 0.2 innings in relief. Jared Mathewson threw 5.2 innings allowing two runs on six hits and struck out six batters.

Justin Dean had two hits and two runs scored to pace the Bears in game two. Alex Reynolds added a hit and two RBI. John Grigg obtained the win (5-0) throwing six innings allowing only one earned run on three hits. He struck out 10 batters. Landon Whitson picked up his seventh save on the year closing out the final inning allowing no hits while striking out two batters.

Owens homered down the left field line in Mars Hill's first at-bat to give the Lions a 1-0 lead. Brubaker scored on a Bear error in the fourth inning to extend MHU's lead to 2-0. Vitello crossed the plate on a wild pitch in the top of the fifth frame before Dean scored on a bases loaded hit batter to take the score to 3-1 in favor of the Lions after five innings of play. Unfortunately, L-R scored three runs in the sixth inning on five hits highlighted by a two-RBI single from Reynolds. The Lions could not produce any runs in their final at-bat and the Bears held on for the 4-3 victory.

Mars Hill will host Southern Wesleyan on Tuesday, March 20. Game time is set for 3 p.m.