Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 The Mount St. Joseph offense was on display in full force on Friday afternoon. The Lions put up 18 runs and 13 runs, respectively, in their two games to start off conference play.
GAME ONE:
Shaky pitching by Mount St. Joseph would make the first game a whole lot more interesting than the second game. Austin Richey (Cincinnati, OH / CCD) started on the mound for the Lions and would only complete one inning of work, giving up six runs in the process.
However, the Lion offense had his back. The Lions started the game off with three straight doubles off of Manchester pitching. By the time the inning was over, they had pushed three runs across the plate. They would come right back in the third inning with four more runs to keep them in the game, as Manchester was also clicking on all cylinders on offense.
Going into the bottom of the fifth inning, the score of the game was knotted at 11-11. Manchester would put up four runs and start to pull away from the Lions. Mount St. Joseph was not done.
They would come back with four runs in the sixth and three more in the eighth to come all the way back and take their first lead of the game at 18-17. The Lions took their lead on a single up the middle by Zak Farmer (Hamilton, OH / Lakota West) and once they got it they never looked back. Senior closer Matt Hofmann came on to ice the game and close the door on the Spartans, giving Mount St. Joseph an 18-17 win in game one.
GAME TWO:
Game two featured a more consistent pitching effort. Alex Wagner (West Chester, OH / Lakota West) would give the Lions his fourth quality start in as many tries, working six innings for the Lions and only allowing one run while striking out eight Spartans.
The Mount St. Joseph offense started slow again, as they would not score their first run until the seventh inning. The Spartans would answer with two of their own in the bottom of the seventh, giving them a 3-1 lead.
Then the Lions went into attack mode. Mount St. Joseph would put up 12 runs in the eighth inning off of 7 hits and 4 Manchester errors in the frame. Kyree Hawkins (Smyrna, GA / South Cobb) had two hits in the eighth inning and Roman Rothwell (Monroe, OH / Monroe) capped the inning off by launching a three-run home run over the left field fence with two outs, pushing the Lion lead to 13-3.
Mike Hilliard (Loveland, OH / Clinton Massie) would come on to relieve Wagner and would work two innings without giving up an earned run to earn the win for the Lions. Matt Hofmann would see work in his second game of the day, working a perfect ninth inning and giving the Lions a 13-3 victory.
The Lions will finish up their three-game series with Manchester on Saturday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 PM.
