Baseball Sweeps Series from Eagles

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Lions' baseball team completed the three-game sweep of SAC rival Carson-Newman Sunday afternoon at the Silver Diamond Complex. Mars Hill improved to 17-20-1 overall and 9-12 in the league. The Eagles dropped to 20-18 on the season and 11-10 in the SAC.

Game 1: Mars Hill 11, C-N 5

Josh Hall went 2-for-4 with a grand slam to lead the Lions at the plate. Shomarii Thomas also tallied a pair of hits, a homerun and four RBI. Troy Hall obtained the win (1-3) pitching four innings in relief allowing just three hits and no earned runs while striking out two batters.

Charlie Brown paced the Eagles going 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Greg Valentine suffered his first loss (6-1) of the season throwing five innings in relief.

Christian Stampler doubled in the Lions' first at-bat to drive in Cody Cline and give the Lions a 1-0 lead. The Lions added three runs in the third inning on four hits highlighted by a two-RBI single from Thomas.

Brett Brubaker hit a solo homerun to right-center field in the fourth frame before the Eagles got on the board in the fifth inning scoring a single run. C-N added two runs in the sixth inning and two runs in the eighth inning to tie the contest at 5-all. Mars Hill answered, scoring six runs in the top of the ninth inning on four hits. With two outs on the board, Josh Hall belted a grand slam to right field to seal the win. Two batters later, Thomas hit a two-run homerun to account for the final runs in the game as the Lions were victorious in game two of the series by a 11-5 margin. Troy Hall sat the Eagles down in order in the bottom of the ninth to close the game.

Game 2: Mars Hill 16, C-N 0

Matt Honeycutt led the Lions' offense in game two. He went 3-for-5 with a homerun, two doubles, four RBI and three runs scored. Lance Edwards also recorded three hits and added a RBI and a stolen base. Zac brown threw six shutout innings allowing just one hit and struck out six batters to pick up his third win (3-2) on the season.

John Sharpe had the only hit for the Eagles. Dalton Long took the loss (2-3) for the Eagles on the mound.

Honeycutt doubled down the right field line in the third inning to plate Brubaker and Cline and give the Lions a 2-0 lead they would never relinquish. Thomas hit a two-run homerun in the fourth stanza to extend the Lions' lead to 4-0.

Mars Hill put the game away in the fifth inning scoring 11 runs on five hits and one Eagle miscue. Hall hit a two-run homerun and Honeycutt added a RBI-double in the at-bat to highlight the inning. Honeycutt ended the scoring in the contest hitting a solo homerun in the seventh inning to make the final tally 16-0 in favor of the visitors.

Mars Hill will play at King on Tuesday, April 10. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.