Lions drop series opener to Trojans

MARS HILL, N.C. – The Mars Hill (19-22-1, 9-13 SAC) baseball team lost to Anderson (17-23, 9-13 SAC) in South Atlantic Conference play Friday afternoon at Henderson Field.

Entering the eighth inning tied at 12 apiece, the Trojans scored twice to take a 14-12 lead into the ninth. With runners on second and third and no outs, Matthew Overton was walked to load the bases. Jackson Strange flew out to right field to score Dillon Carpenter for the go-ahead run. A single up the middle from Tyler Berry plated Chandler Castleberry to give Anderson the two-run advantage.

The Trojans tacked on an insurance run in the top of the ninth, scoring off of the fourth Mars Hill error of the afternoon.

The Lions had an opportunity to tie the game with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, but a strikeout from Matthew Stanley sealed the come-from-behind win for the Trojans.

Josh Hall put Mars Hill on the board in the bottom of the first with his second grand slam in five days. The next batter, Barrett Hennings, hammered a solo homerun over the right field fence to give Mars Hill a 5-0 lead after the first.

In the bottom of the second, Christian Stampler hit his 15^th homerun of the year, a three-run shot over the left-center field fence to put Mars Hill up by eight.

With two runners on and one out in the bottom of the third, Matt Honeycutt plated Daniel Vitello and Cody Cline with a two-RBI single to left field.

With Mars Hill leading 10-0, Tyler Miller ended Alec Bivins' no-hit bid in the top of the fourth with a leadoff homerun to left-center field. Overton's RBI single through the right-side of the infield cut the deficit to eight. Coming in to pinch hit, Joseph Strange's RBI single scored the third Trojans' run of the inning.

Anderson pulled within four in the top of the fifth. Overton hammered a three-run homerun over the right field fence to cut the Mars Hill lead down to 10-6 midway through the contest. Honeycutt's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the frame reestablished the Lions' five-run advantage.

William Thomas cut the deficit to four once again in the top of the sixth with off of a Mars Hill error in the infield. With the bases loaded and two outs in the inning, Castleberry cleared the bases with a three-run double to center field. The Lions carried a one-run advantage into the bottom of the inning.

Thomas struck again in the top of the seven, tying the game at 11 with a RBI single to first. Miller drove the ball to center field to plate one run, but as Thomas attempted to come home, Cline threw him out at the plate to end the inning. With the single, Anderson took their first lead of the game.

Mars Hill loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom half of the inning and plated one run as Hennings drew a walk, allowing Brett Brubaker to score the tying run. With a chance to regain the lead, the Lions left the bases loaded with a groundout to end the inning.

Christian Carpenter earned the win for the Trojans, pitching 2.1 innings and striking out four batters. Troy Hall suffers the loss, giving up two earned runs, eight total, on eight hits in two innings pitched.

The Lions wrap up the weekend series on Saturday, April 14 with a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m. Eleven seniors will be honored prior to the game for Senior Day recognition.