Lions' rallies thwarted by Cedarville in home opener

MARS HILL, N.C. - The Mars Hill baseball team (2-8) fell to Cedarville (2-1) in both of their contests Saturday afternoon.  The Lions dropped game one by a score of 23-15 and game two by a mark of 12-3 in seven innings.

GAME ONE: CU 23, MHU 15

The Yellow Jackets kicked off game one in quick fashion, scoring eight runs in the first two innings.  The first inning saw six Cedarville runs plated, highlighted by two two-run doubles off the bats of Matthew Biermann a nd Austin Brown.  Another two-run double in the second saw Cedarville carry an 8-0 edge into the bottom of the second.  

Mars Hill plated three runs in the bottom half of the inning, however, allowed two more runs in the top of the fourth to find themselves trailing 10-4 after four innings of play.  

The Lions entered the fifth inning down 14-4 before making a comeback effort.  Scottie Lee kicked off the run with a solo home run.  The sixth inning saw Austin Treadway plate Cody Cline on a RBI groundout to pull within eight.  A six-run seventh inning saw the Lions close the deficit to 14-12.

Trevor Bailey ripped a three-run home run to plate Casey Mawhinney and Ruben Trillo.  Later in the inning, a two-run single by Treadway scored Cline and Jordan Lathe and was followed up by a Tyler Lala RBI single that plated Treadway.

Cedarville rallied with an explosive inning of their own, scoring five runs in the top of the eighth.  Logan Eby's two-run double was the highlight of the run.  However, the resilient Lions' team answered in the eighth, pulling within four runs off of Lee's second home run of the contest, a three-run shot.

The Yellow Jackets added four more runs in the top of the ninth led by Brendan Toungate's two-run single.

Four Yellow Jackets collected three hits on the day while Alan Perry led the team offensively with three hits, four RBI, and five runs scored.  Lee led the Lions with four RBI in the contest, going 2-for-2 from the plate.  Lala led the team with three hits.

Trace Gillis earned the win for Cedarville, allowing two runs in two innings pitched.  Jared Mathewson suffered the loss, allowing eight runs on eight hits in two innings thrown.

GAME TWO: CU 12, MHU 3

Knotted at three entering the sixth inning, Cedarville scored nine unanswered runs over the next two innings to complete the sweep over Mars Hill.

Game two was called in the seventh inning due to darkness.

A sacrifice fly from Logan Eby broke the 3-3 deadlock in the sixth inning.  An eight-run seventh saw the Yellow Jackets blow the lead up to nine runs.  Matthew Biermann's grand slam was the offensive highlight of the frame.  Alan Perry plated the last two runs of the game with a single up the middle that saw Austin Brown and Payton Eeles cross home.

Entering the bottom half of the second down 1-0, the Lions took their first lead of the afternoon, plating two runs in the stanza.  Ruben Trillo opened the scoring with a solo home run followed by Jordan Lathe's RBI double to left center field that plated Casey Mawhinney.

Cedarville responded in the fourth inning as Brendan Toungate tied the game with a solo home run of his own.  The teams traded runs in the fifth inning to remain tied heading into the latter stages of the contest.

Biermann's lone hit of the game led all players with four RBI in the contest.  Perry added three, going 2-for-4 from the plate.  Both Trillo and Lathe recorded two hits for Mars Hill.

Noah Cline picked up the win, allowing one hit in 2.1 innings pitched.  Carlton Jackson was credited with the loss, allowing nine runs-five earned-in 1.2 innings pitched.

Mars Hill returns to the diamond on Tuesday, February 18 on the road versus Limestone.  First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m.