Box Score
HCAC-leader Earlham College pushed across the go ahead run in the top of the ninth inning on Tuesday evening, and they edged the Mount, 3-2. The Lions fall to 10-15 overall, 5-10 in the HCAC, and will resume action this coming weekend in a three-game HCAC series at Manchester University. The Quakers go to 21-6 overall, 11-5 in the conference, tied with Anderson University for first place.
The Lions' Nick Browning (Fairfield, OH/Hamilton Badin) got the scoring started in the game in the fourth inning, when he singled in Drew Werner (Sunman, IN/East Central), giving the Mount a 1-0 lead. Earlham College, however, would take a lead of their own in the fifth inning off Mount starter Jacob Gunnell (Hamilton, OH/Fairfield) on a two-run double. Zach Farmer (Hamilton, OH/Lakota West) hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth inning, plating teammate Ronald Cotton (Florence, KY/Boone County) to tie the score at two-all. The score would remain that way until the ninth, when the Quakers got a one-out single, and the runner moved on to second on a wild pitch, before being driven in on a single to right-center. Farmer, the Mount's lead-off batter in the bottom of the ninth reached first base on a single, advanced to second on a single by Mike Williams (Cincinnati, OH/Taft), but was stranded their as the Lions' next three batters made outs, including the first two strking out.
The Mount stranded six runners on base, while Earlham stranded 10 runners on base in the game. The Lions were one-for-seven with runners in scoring position, while the Quakers were two-for-11 in that situation. Rick Paulinelli (Harrison, OH/Harrison) pitched four innings of relief and suffered the loss, dropping to 2-2 on the season. Farmer and Williams led the Mount's seven hit offense with two hits each.
