YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. | Mars Hill University scored in every inning but three as the Lions picked up a 20-12 non-conference baseball victory over Young Harris College Tuesday (March 15) afternoon at the Zell B. Miller Field.
The Lions improved to 19-8 while the Mountain Lions fell to 8-14. The two teams will meet again on the baseball diamond at 3 p.m. Wednesday (March 16).
Mars Hill took a 3-0 lead in the second inning off YHC starter
Hunter Sowell. Drayden Williams drove in the first run on a sacrifice fly and Hunter Merrill added a two-run single up the middle.
Young Harris closed to 3-2 in the bottom half of the inning as
Jimmy Pinakidis connected on a two-run double off the top of the right field wall; however, Mars Hill broke the game open with a five-run third. Evan Rogers led off with a homer to left and Rayshelon Carolina added a two-run double.
The Mountain Lions scored twice in the fourth inning to pull within 9-4, including an RBI single by
Jared Campbell. After the Lions posted two runs in the top of the fifth, Young Harris scored four times in the bottom half to get within 11-8.
Zach Beggs added a run-scoring through the right side ahead of
Troy Kizer's three-run homer to right-center field. It was Kizer's first long ball of the 2016 campaign.
Young Harris got within two runs at 14-12 after the Mountain Lions scored four times in the bottom of the seventh.
Triston Smith drove in a run with a double to left field and
Zach Odom had a two-run single to right.
However, that would be as close as they would get as Mars Hill scored six more runs in the top of the eight. Dalton Eisenbath, Dustin Jones and Williams each tallied two-run single for the Mountain Lions.
The teams combined to use 12 pitchers as they collected 35 hits, including 17 by the Mountain Lions. Joshua Epley (1-0) pitched 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win.
Brett Westmoreland, Beggs and Kizer collected three hits apiece for the Mountain Lions while Campbell added two more. Every starter in the YHC lineup except for one had at least one hit.
