Box Score
The Lions continued their recent struggles in close ball games, when they lost 5-4 in nine innings, and 9-8 at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on Friday. The Mount, 9-13 overall and 2-7 in the HCAC, have lost five of their last six games, all by one run. The Lions are scheduled to conclude their three-game series against the Engineers on Apr. 7 with a single game.
The Lions jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning of game one, but saw Rose-Hulman tie the game at one-all in the second. The Engineers went ahead 4-2 in the sixth and saw the Lions knot the score at four-all in the seventh, with one run scoring on a bases loaded walk and one run on a wild pitch. Rose-Hulman would claim the win in the bottomf of the ninth, when they connected for a leadoff home run. The Lions had left two runners on base to end the first half of the ninth inning.
Brandon Polking (Cincinnati, OH/St. Xavier) started on the mound for the Lions, pitching 5 2/3 innings while Chris Bruckman (Huber Heights, OH/Chaminade-Julienne) pitched 2 1/3 innings of relief, and was tagged with the loss, dropping his 2012 mark to 1-4. The Mount pounded out 11 hits in the game, including three doubles. They were led on offense by Michael Leytze (Cincinnati, OH/La Salle) and Kyle Ottaway (Fairfield, OH/Fairfield), who had three hits each. Jonathan Roberts (Heborn, Ky/Conner) and Taylor Simpson (Monroe, OH/Monroe) chipped in two hits each.
Both teams scored early and often in the second game, with each putting up six runs in an inning early on. Rose-Hulman led 9-7 after three innings of action, while the Mount cut the deficit to 9-8 in the fifth inning when Kyle Vennemeier (Harrison, OH/Harrison) drove in Roberts with an infield single. The Lions would be retired in order in the sixth inning, and their comeback attempt in the seventh was thwarted when, after getting two runners on base, they ended the game by hitting into a double play. Aaron Sparks (Cincinnati, OH/La Salle) started and pitched 2 2/3 innings, suffering the loss and dropping to 0-3 this season. He was relieved by Dean Krause (Lebanon, OH/Lebanon).
The Lions again had 11 hits, including four doubles in game two, with Garrett Edwards (Reading, OH/Reading), Derek Allen (New Alsace, IN/East Central), and Vennemeier recording two hits each. Vennemeier had three RBI.
