Mars Hill offense comes alive, sweeps Emmanuel

FRANKLIN SPRINGS, Ga. - The Mars Hill baseball team (14-20) swept Emmanuel (14-21) Monday afternoon by scores of 14-7 and 10-4, respectively.

GAME ONE: MHU 14, EC 7

Tyler Lala's four-hit outing helped power the Lions to a 14-7 win to tie the series.

Lala opened the scoring for the Lions in the top of the first with a RBI double that plated Ruben Trillo.  Lala later scored off of a Hunter Holland infield single.

Mars Hill, leading 3-1, scored two more runs in the third.  Zach Weaver's RBI double plated Lala and later in the stanza, Kyle Jenkins drove home Weaver with a RBI single to right field.  In the top of the fourth inning, Casey Mawhinney doubled down the right field line to plate Paul Martin, putting Mars Hill up 5-1.

The fifth inning saw Mars Hill tack on two more runs, highlighted by Lala's solo home run, his eighth of the season.  

Emmanuel cut the deficit to two runs in the bottom of the sixth, 9-7, as Tony Matos and Hunter Reeves each drove in two runs off of a single and double, respectively.

The Lions plated five in the top of the eighth as Jenkins and Mawhinney each drove in two runs.  Trevor Bailey drove in his second run of the game with a RBI single to left field.

Lala led all players with four hits while Mawhinney and Holland each added two hits apiece.  Jenkins led Mars Hill with four RBI.  Reeves led Emmanuel with four RBI while he and Luke Patty each recorded a team-high three hits.

Andrew Hazell earned his third win of the season, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out four in 5.0 innings pitched.

GAME TWO: MHU 10, EC 4

Mars Hill's five-run fourth inning propelled them to the series clinching game two win over Emmanuel.

Tied at two entering the top of the fourth, Hunter Holland broke the tie with a solo home run to center field.  To cap off the scoring in the inning, Ruben Trillo hit a two-run bomb to left field, scoring Casey Mawhinney and putting Mars Hill up 7-2.

After scoreless fifth and sixth innings, Mars Hill plated two more runs off of Emmanuel errors.  Zach Weaver, in the top of the eighth, hit a solo home run to center field to put Mars Hill into double digits.  

Antonio Golden's two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth closed the gap to six, but Nick Von Tobel was able to close the game out on his fifth strikeout in 1.2 innings pitched.

Trillo opened the scoring in the first inning with his first home run of the day, a two-run shot to left field.

Trillo led all players with four RBI in the contest while Holland led all players with three hits.  The Lion pitching staff allowed only four hits in the outing as Sam Kaplan came away with his second win of the season, allowing two runs on three hits in six innings of work.

Mars Hill returns to South Atlantic Conference play on Saturday, April 17 when they take on UVA Wise on the road.  First pitch is set for 1 p.m.