Baseball Loses at Limestone
GAFFNEY, S.C. - Mars Hill lost their season opener at Limestone College Tuesday afternoon by a score of 5-1 at Bob Prevatte Field. Michael Brittian led the Lions going 1-4 with a run scored.
Joe Maloney went 2-for-4 with a solo homerun and two RBI to lead Limestone (1-0). With the score knotted at 0-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Al Benson found a hole up the middle to break the Saints into the hit column. An out later and the runner on second, Maloney hit a blooper to left, driving home the run to put Limestone up 1-0.
Errors on a pair of infield pop flies by Mars Hill led to two additional runs to come across for LC in the fourth, giving the home team a 3-0 cushion.
The Saints plated two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. With one out, Maloney hit a homerun to right center to put the home team up 4-0. Three batters later, Jake Rierson drove the right center gap for an RBI double to stake Limestone to a five-run advantage.
The Lions snapped the shutout in the top of the seventh after Brittian started the inning with a single to right. Following a wild pitch and groundout, Christian Diaz scored the runner with a RBI grounder to close the gap to 5-1. Although the visitors put two more runners on base during the frame, LC pitcher Zack Lucas stranded the pair after forcing a flyout to end the inning.
The Saints had a chance to score additional runs in the seventh after loading the bases with no outs. However, Mars Hill pitcher Tony Hearrell used his sidearm motion to punch out a pair of Limestone batters before enticing a groundout to work out of trouble.
The visiting Lions had a similar opportunity in their half of the third. After two quality innings of work by pitchers Josh White and Cameron Ward (Deland, Fla.) to start the game, Tyler Reboulet and Brandon King put together back-to-back singles before Michael Bueker worked a walk to load the bases with one out. Excellent pitching by Thomas Fekete allowed the Saints to work out of the jam as he forced a shallow fly to right before a groundout retired the side. Jeremy Peed pitched a scoreless ninth to preserve the 5-1 win for Limestone.
Reboulet paced the Lions with a 1-for-2 effort at the plate and a walk while Diaz finished with an RBI. Jon Bullington took the loss after allowing five runs, three of which were earned, in six innings of work. He recorded three strikeouts while Hearrell fanned two in one inning on the mound.
Maloney and Rierson finished the afternoon with two hits apiece while Benson and Micah Robinson each chipped in a hit. Maloney and Rierson provided the only extra base hits on the afternoon. Cameron Culp picked up the win for the Saints and was one of nine pitchers used on the afternoon by LC.
MHC will play a three-game set this weekend at North Georgia College. The series will begin on Friday at 4 p.m. The teams will then meet for single games on Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. Live video and statistics will be provided by NGCSU. Click on the webcast link under the multimedia tab on the Lions' website to access these options.
