HobbsDailyReport.com
HICKORY – Mars Hill swept Lenoir-Rhyne University on Saturday in baseball at Bears Field, winning 10-4 and 4-3 to drop the Bears below .500 at 21-22.
Mars Hill (26-19, 12-9 South Atlantic Conference) got a 3-for-5, five-RBIs game from Gray McCurry in the opening game, with Matt Honeycutt going 2-for-3 and driving in four runs.
The Lions led 4-3 through six innings in the first game and scored three runs in both the seventh and eighth innings en route to victory.
The game featured a combined 24 hits, eight of them doubles.
The top three spots in LRU’s batting order – Zach Jacobs, Fred Wadsworth and Alex Reynolds each had two hits. Collectively, they went 6-for-14.
Zac Brown (5-3) got the pitching win for the Lions. He worked eight innings, giving up 11 hits, four runs (three earned), walking none and striking out seven.
Bears starter Landon Whitson (2-4) took the loss, lasting two innings. He gave up five hits, four runs (all earned) with two walks and two strikeouts.
The second game went seven innings and Mars Hill won by a run.
Hunter Merrill had two hits for the Lions and Brett Brubacker homered — his 12th of the season — and had three RBIs.
Tripp Hamrick and Wadsworth drove in runs for the Bears, who were up 3-1 until Mars Hill scored three runs in the fifth inning.
Winning pitcher Caleb Edwards threw a complete game with three walks and four strikeouts. He gave up three hits and three runs (all earned).
Reliever John Curtis took the loss for LRU (21-22, 6-15), going 11/3 innings.
LRU’s next game is Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Gaffney, S.C., against Limestone.
GAME 1
Mars Hill 10 LRU 4
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
Hunter Merrill 2b………. 4 2 2 0 Zach Jacobs rf/1b………. 5 1 2 1
Daniel Vitello cf………. 5 3 3 0 Fred Wadsworth 3b………. 5 0 2 0
Brett Brubaker 1b………. 2 3 1 0 Alex Reynolds 1b……….. 4 1 2 0
Matt Honeycutt c……….. 3 2 2 4 Brandon Lam rf………… 1 0 0 0
Gray McCurry 3b………… 5 0 3 5 Marcus Shoemaker lf…….. 3 0 0 1
Barrett Hennings lf…….. 4 0 1 0 David Newcomer 2b………. 3 1 2 1
Harrison Keslar lf…….. 1 0 0 0 Hunter Jackson c……….. 3 0 1 0
Shomarii Thomas dh….. 4 0 0 0 Garrett Vaughn dh………. 4 0 0 0
Cody Cline ss………….. 3 0 1 0 Justin Lara cf…………. 4 1 1 0
Devin Mangum rf……… 5 0 0 0 Grant Fuller pr/cf…….. 0 0 0 0
Zac Brown p……………. 0 0 0 0 Taylor Stewart ss………. 4 0 1 0
Jared Mathewson p……… 0 0 0 0 Landon Whitson p……….. 0 0 0 0
Tad Ratliff p…………. 0 0 0 0
Connor Dailey p……….. 0 0 0 0
Totals………………… 36 10 13 9 Totals………………… 36 4 11 3
Score by Innings R H E
Mars Hill……….. 301 000 330 – 10 13 1
LRU…….. 110 010 010 – 4 11 1
E – Cody Cline (11); L. Whitson (3). DP – Mars Hill 1. LOB – Mars Hill 8; LRU 8. 2B – H. Merrill (3); D. Vitello (9); M. Honeycutt (7); G. McCurry (2); Z. Jacobs (10); F. Wadsworth (12); D. Newcomer 2 (18); J. Lara (3). HBP – D. Newcomer; H. Jackson. SF – M. Honeycutt 2 (2); M. Shoemaker (4). SB – D. Vitello (11); B. Brubaker (9). CS – A. Reynolds (2).
Mars Hill IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
Zac Brown W,5-3……….. 8.0 11 4 3 0 7 0 0 2 0 33 36 7 8
Jared Mathewson ……….. 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 3 1 1
LRU IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
Landon Whitson L,2-4…… 2.0 5 4 4 2 2 0 0 0 0 10 12 1 2
Tad Ratliff …………… 5.1 7 6 6 5 7 1 0 0 1 21 27 4 4
Connor Dailey …………. 1.2 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 5 6 4 0
WP – T. Ratliff (5); C. Dailey (2). HBP – by Zac Brown (D. Newcomer); by Zac Brown (H.
Jackson). PB – H. Jackson (6). Strikeouts – H. Merrill; G. McCurry; B. Hennings 2; S. Thomas 4; Cody Cline; Devin Mangum; F. Wadsworth 2; B. Lam; H. Jackson; G. Vaughn 2; J. Lara; T. Stewart 2. Walks – H. Merrill; B. Brubaker 3; S. Thomas; Cody Cline 2.
L. Whitson faced 2 batters in the 3rd.
GAME 2
Mars Hill 4 LRU 3
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
Hunter Merrill 2b………. 4 2 2 0 Zach Jacobs rf…………. 4 0 1 0
Daniel Vitello cf………. 4 1 1 1 Tripp Hamrick ss……….. 3 0 1 1
Brett Brubaker lf………. 2 1 1 3 Alex Reynolds 1b……….. 4 0 1 0
Matt Honeycutt dh………. 4 0 1 0 Marcus Shoemaker lf…….. 2 1 0 0
Gray McCurry 3b………… 3 0 0 0 David Newcomer 2b………. 3 0 1 0
Shomarii Thomas 1b……… 2 0 0 0 Matthew Freeman dh……… 3 0 0 0
Harrison Keslar rf……… 2 0 0 0 Justin Lara cf…………. 1 1 1 0
Luke Baker c…………… 2 0 0 0 Fred Wadsworth 3b………. 3 1 1 1
Lance Edwards ss……….. 3 0 0 0 Cole Fowler c………….. 2 0 1 0
Caleb Edwards p………… 0 0 0 0 Austin Hancock p……….. 0 0 0 0
John Curtis p…………. 0 0 0 0
Nolan Flachofsky p…….. 0 0 0 0
Totals………………… 26 4 5 4 Totals………………… 25 3 7 2
Score by Innings R H E
Mars Hill….. 100 030 0 – 4 5 0
LRU…….. 021 000 0 – 3 7 1
E – F. Wadsworth (12). DP – Mars Hill 1. LOB – Mars Hill 6; LRU 7. 2B – D. Vitello (11); F. Wadsworth (14). HR – B. Brubaker (12). HBP – M. Shoemaker. SH – T. Hamrick (2); C. Fowler (2). SF – B. Brubaker (3).
Mars Hill IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
Caleb Edwards W, 2-0……. 7.0 7 3 3 3 4 1 0 1 0 25 31 8 7
LRU IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
Austin Hancock ………… 4.2 4 3 3 1 5 1 0 0 0 18 20 5 4
John Curtis L,2-3……… 1.1 1 1 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 5 7 2 1
Nolan Flachofsky ………. 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 3 4 1 1
WP – C. Edwards (5); A. Hancock (7); J. Curtis (8); Flachofsky (1). HBP – by C. Edwards (M. Shoemaker). PB – C. Fowler (11). Strikeouts – D. Vitello; B. Brubaker; M. Honeycutt; S. Thomas; H. Keslar; Luke Baker 2; Z. Jacobs; T. Hamrick; A. Reynolds; F. Wadsworth.Walks – B. Brubaker; S. Thomas; H. Keslar; Luke Baker; M. Shoemaker; J. Lara 2.
- Reported by LRU Sports Information