Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
The Mount St. Joseph baseball team completed their three-game weekend series at Franklin College on Sunday, recording a doubleheader spilt which enabled the Lions to take two out of three in the HCAC series against the Grizzlies. The Mount dropped the first game of the twin-bill, 5-3 but bounced back to grab the nightcap, 12-6. The Lions, 12-20 overall, 7-15 in the conference, will resume season action on APril 28 when they host Transylvania University (11-22, 7-14 HCAC).
Ryan McCauley (Canal Winchester, OH/Madison Christian) and teammate Ronald Cotton (Florence, KY/Boone County) had RBI singles in the second and third innings, respectively, in game one, giving the Mount a 2-0 lead, before Franklin tied the game at 2-all in the fourth inning. The Mount scored an unearned run in the fifth, on a single by Cotton, to forge ahead 3-2. The Grizzlies, however, would tie the game at 3-all in the sixth off Mount starter Brandon Polking (Cincinnati, OH/St. Xavier), and add the go-ahead runs in the eighth, scoring two unearned runs to win, 5-3. Cotton led the offense with three hits while McCauley chipped in two hits. The Lions left seven runners on base and were two-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
The Mount got their offense started early in game two, with three different players collecting an RBI in the first inning to give the Mount a 3-0 lead after one-half inning of play. Holding a 4-1 lead entering the fifth inning, the Mount busted the game open, scoring six times in that frame. Cotton and Nick Boardman (Cincinnati, OH/La Salle) each had two-run singles in that inning for the Lions. Franklin scored two runs in the seventh and three in the ninth innning. The Mount pounded out 15 hits in the game, with Drew Werner (Sunman, IN/East Central) collecting four hits, including a home run, and teammate Kyle Kittle (Lawrenceburg, IN/Lawrenceburg) and Zach Farmer (Hamilton, OH/Lakota West) adding three hits each. The Mount was seven-for-16 with runners in scoring position. Franklin College stranded 12 runners on base. Mount starter Rick Paulinelli (Harrison, OH/Harrison) recorded the win, pitching five innings and allowing just two hits, to run his season record to 3-2.
