Offense continues to roll as Mars Hill defeats Limestone, 15-9
The Mars Hill baseball team (11-12) picked up their third straight win with a 15-9 victory over Limestone (7-16) Wednesday afternoon at Henderson Field.
MARS HILL, N.C. - The Mars Hill baseball team (11-12) picked up their third straight win with a 15-9 victory over Limestone (7-16) Wednesday afternoon at Henderson Field.
The Lions carried an 8-5 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh before tacking on seven more runs to go up by 10 in the latter stages of the contest. Gray McCurry recorded three RBI in the frame, beginning with a two-run double that scored Austin Purser and Paul Martin. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded, McCurry was hit by a pitch that plated Matt Honeycutt.
Cody Cline plated McCurry with a RBI double and later crossed home off of a Daniel Vitello RBI single. Scottie Lee drove Vitello home with a RBI single of his own.
In the top of the eighth, Limestone's Jeff Towle pulled the Saints within seven with a three-run home run. Towle added another RBI, his game-high fifth on the day, in the top of the ninth with the bases loaded and being hit by a pitch.
Limestone took the early 2-0 lead in the top of the first from Ryan Creps two-run home run. Mars Hill, in the bottom half of the inning, responded with three runs to take the lead. Vitello's leadoff home run was followed later in the frame with Lee's monstrous two-run home run that cleared the scoreboard in left field. Vitello's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the second doubled the Lions' lead entering the third inning.
Towle recorded his first RBI of the day on a groundout in the top of the fourth, but later in the stanza, Cline's two-run bomb over the center field fence put Mars Hill up 6-3 entering the fifth.
Chase Allen once again cut the Lions' deficit down to one with a two-run home run in the top of the frame. Mars Hill added one in the bottom of the fifth and in the sixth, Brett Brubaker launched a solo home run over the center field fence to put the Lions up by three heading into the seventh.
Towle led all players with five RBI on the contest while Trace Whetsell and Alex Cornell each had two hits. Cline and Vitello each recorded three hits and three RBI on the day. Lee and McCurry also added three RBI.
Tony Bianchini picked up the win for Mars Hill, striking out five and allowing three runs on four hits in four innings pitched. Thomas Walden was credited with the loss.
Mars Hill returns to South Atlantic Conference play on Friday, March 15th when they take on Newberry on the road. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
