Box Score Mount St. Joseph went into Tuesday night's game against Otterbein with 499 wins in their program's history. Earning win number 500 would be a tall task for the Lions as the Cardinals of Otterbein came into the game ranked at number 21 in the country.
The Lions would send Nick Gunnell (Hamilton, OH / Fairfield) to the hill for the big game and he would not disappoint. Gunnell would earn his first win of the season, giving the Lions seven strong innings of work, allowing just one run on six hits.
The Mount St. Joseph offense also showed up. The scoring started in the first inning when Kyree Hawkins (Smyrna, GA / South Cobb) and Roman Rothwell (Monroe, OH / Monroe) were both able to work their ways on base before a two-RBI single by Zak Farmer (Hamilton, OH / Lakota West).
Otterbein would score their only run of the game in the second inning on a solo home run. The Lions would bounce right back in the third inning. Kyree Hawkins would work a walk to start the inning before going first-to-third on a sacrifice bunt by Matt Hofmann (Cincinnati, OH / Elder). He would score during the next at-bat, when Roman Rothwell reached base on an RBI infield single. His infield hit would be followed by a double to right field by cleanup hitter Nathan Hunter (Vevay, IN / Switzerland County). Zak Farmer would pick up his third RBI on the day in the next at-bat, grounding out to the shortstop deep in the hole and scoring Rothwell from third base before the Lions were finally retired in the third inning.
The game quickly turned into a pitcher's duel, as there would be no more runs scored for either side through the seventh inning. Jacob Gunnell (Hamilton, OH / Fairfield) would come on to work a scoreless 8th inning for the Lions before the offense would strike again.
After the first two Lion hitters of the inning would be retired, Mount St. Joseph got rolling on offense again. Austin Richey (Cincinnati, OH / CCD) would single to second base and his knock would be followed by a hot shot up the middle by Jose Bustamante (Austell, GA / South Cobb). Garrett Hogan (Hamilton, OH / Badin) would follow up Bustamante's hit with a knock of his own through the right side of the infield, scoring Brandon Turner (Greenfield, IN / Mount Vernon) who had come in to run for Richey. Kyree Hawkins would come to the plate next and would send the fourth straight Lions hit into centerfield, scoring Bustamante before the inning finally came to a close with the Lions leading 6-1.
Mount St. Joseph would call on senior closer Matt Hoffman to shut the door on the Cardinals. Hofmann would face four hitters, hitting one man and striking out the other three that he faced, earning the Mount St. Joseph baseball program their 500th win in program history.
LION AT THE PEAK:
Nick Gunnell gave the Lions the start that they needed to get back on track after a slow start to the season. Gunnell worked seven strong innings, allowing only six hits, one run, and striking out two hitters.
UP NEXT:
The Lions will travel to Manchester University on Friday for their conference opener against the Spartans. The first pitch on Friday will come at 4:15 PM. Saturday the Lions will take on the Spartans in a doubleheader, with the first pitch of game one coming at 12:00 PM and game two coming directly after.
