TIGERVILLE, S.C. – The Young Harris College baseball team scored a pair of runs in the eighth and nearly rallied from a three-run deficit, but couldn’t plate the tying run as the Mountain Lions dropped the opening game of a three-game series with North Greenville on Friday, 4-1, at Ashmore Baseball Field.

North Greenville opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning with a run on one hit and took advantage of a Young Harris error to grab a 1-0 lead.

The Mountain Lions (16-14) answered with a run in the third as Mike Medori, who went 2-for-3, singled to center with one out and advanced to second on a Tommy Ferguson ground out. Zach Bricknell, who went 2-for-5, followed with a single to center to plate Medori, tying the game at 1.

However, the Crusaders scored two runs on four hits and took advantage of an error to grab a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the frame and extended the advantage to 4-1 with a run in the seventh.

Young Harris rallied with a pair of runs in the eighth as Bricknell singled to center with one out and advanced to second on a David Atwood ground out. Josh Rudnik tripled down the right field line to score Bricknell and Evan Carr followed with a base hit to left, bringing in Rudnik to cut the Crusaders advantage to 4-3.

Brice Merritt took the loss in pitching seven innings. He gave up four runs (three earned) on eight hits with three walks. Oliver Pratt worked an inning in relief.

The Mountain Lions concluded the three-game series with the Crusaders with a doubleheader starting at noon on Saturday, March 19. Go to http://yhcathletics.athleticsite.net/livestats/xlive.htm for Live Stats.

YHC Athletics