Box Score Location: Florence, KY (UC Health Stadium)
Basics: The Mount St. Joseph baseball team took to the diamond against Berea to open up the 2017 season. The Lions would defeat the Mountaineers 12-8 to move to 1-0 on the young season.
How it Happened: The Lions would send Austin Richey (Cincinnati, OH / Cincinnati Country Day) to the hill to start the game. While Richey would not get the win, he did have a solid debut this season. Richey would give up one earned run in the first on two hits.
The Lions would dent the scoreboard for the first time in the bottom of the second inning. With two outs in the inning Drew Werner (Sunman, IN / East Central) got a base hit and was followed by Roman Rothwell (Monroe, OH / Monroe) who cranked a double down the left field line, scoring Werner.
Rothwell would strike again in the third inning, blasting a home run over the left field fence to cushion the Mount St. Joseph advantage.
Brady Johnson (Peebles, OH / Peebles) would come on to get the win in relief for the Lions, not allowing a single runner to reach base in his 1.1 innings.
Roman Rothwell would do some damage yet again in the bottom of the fourth inning, sending a two-RBI triple into the right center gap. This would be a huge inning for the Lions, as they would plate four runs, bringing the score to 11-2 in favor of Mount St. Joseph.
After a shaky inning by the bullpen and some relatively quiet innings of offense from Mount St. Joseph the Mountaineers of Berea were able to climb back into the game.
Going into the top of the ninth inning the Lions were clinging to a 12-8 advantage, as senior closer Matt Hofmann (Cincinnati, OH / Elder) would be called on to close the door. After a double to lead the inning off, Hofmann would fan three consecutive Mountaineer batters, striking out the side to end the game.
Lion at the Peak:
Freshman Roman Rothwell was the leader of the pack on Thursday night. In his college debut he was able to go 3-4 with a double, a triple, and a home run. He reached base all five times he came up to the plate, reaching on an error and adding a walk in his phenomenal performance. Rothwell finished the game with 6 RBI and was only a single away from the cycle.
On Deck:
Saturday's double-header against Grove City at UC Health Stadium has been postponed to a later date. This means that the next action for the Lions will be a double-header on Saturday, March 4 against Wilmington. First pitch of game one will come to you from UC Health Stadium at noon with game two following approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one.
