Baseball Splits with Anderson

MARS HILL, N.C. – The Lions split a South Atlantic Conference baseball double-header with Anderson Saturday afternoon at Henderson Field. Mars Hill took their season record to 21-10 overall and 7-5 in the league. The Trojans are now 10-17 on the season, 5-7 in the SAC.

Game 1: Anderson 2, Mars Hill 1

Dylan Powers, Brett Brubaker and Logan Conley accounted for the Lions' three hits in game one. Drayden Williams took the loss for MHU pitching in relief.

Carson Barrett had a two-RBI double to pace Anderson at the plate. Andrew Dill obtained the win (3-0) throwing the eighth inning while Brock Goodling recorded his fifth save tossing the ninth inning.

Ray Carolina scored on a fielder's choice in the Lions' first at-bat to give MHU a 1-0 advantage. There would not be any additional scoring in the contest until ninth inning when Barrett doubled to right-center field to plate Xavier Peralta and Garrett Bernardo. The Lions had their chances to score in their final at-bat but Anderson held Mars Hill at bay to record the 2-1 victory.

Game 2: Mars Hill 14, Anderson 13

Evan Rogers went 3-4 with a homerun, a triple, a double and three RBI in the nightcap. Dylan Powers was also 3-4 at the plate with a homerun and three RBI. Brubaker was 4-5 with a triple while Dalton Eisenbath went 3-5 with two RBI. Patrick Riehl picked up the win (1-1) for the Lions throwing the final inning in relief.

Kyle Bailey and Steven Cooper led the Trojans with two hits and two RBI apiece. Brock Goodling suffered the loss (0-2) for Anderson on the hill.

Anderson scored one run in the top of the first inning before the Lions went up 2-1 in the bottom half of the first inning on three hits and one Trojan error. Mars Hill then exploded for five runs in the second inning on five hits and one Anderson miscue. Powers hit a two-run homerun in the at-bat and Rogers had a RBI double.

Anderson tied the contest at 7-all in the fourth inning scoring six runs on the same number of hits and two Lion errors. A solo homerun by Rogers and a RBI single by Phillip Carroll in the bottom half of the fourth inning gave MHU a 9-7 lead.

Anderson knotted the game again at 9-9 in the sixth inning on two hits and then took a 13-9 lead in the seventh inning on three hits highlighted by a two-RBI single from Steven Cooper. The Lions would not die and scored five runs in their last at-bat on five hits and two Anderson errors. All five of the Lions' runs were scored with two outs on the board. Hunter Merrill scored on an error before Eisenbath hit a two-RBI single to bring the Lions within a single run of the Trojans. Carroll then crossed the plate on another error to tie the contest before Daniel Vitello recorded the game-winning run scoring from third base on a wild pitch.

Mars Hill will play at King on Wednesday, March 23. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.