Franklin, Ind.—The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament begins this weekend. The Lions have the opportunity to play against the second seeded Franklin College in the opening round. This series will begin on Friday, May 12 at 4M.
Due to Covid the HCAC is allowing all tens teams to compete in the conference tournament. The first round will be played as a best of three series, with game one of the Mount at Franklin taking place on Friday at 4PM. Saturday, May 13 will see game two and three played, with first pitch for game two at noon. The third and final game of the series will only be played if needed, this game is scheduled for a 4PM start time. Winning this series against Franklin would, qualify the Lions for a five team double-elimintation tournament, that will take place next weekend.
The Lions have shown a ton of growth throughout the season. One of the bright spots for the team was Junior outfielder Ryan Murray, who finished the regular season top 20 in league batting average and home runs with a .339 average, five home runs to go along with his 30 RBI's. Additionally first basemen Tyrell Anderson had a great season at the plate, hitting .305 and completing the season in the top 10 in RBI's, driving in 40 runs in just 39 games.
The combination of Jacob Hughes and Nathan Renner have been solid in their starting roles for the Lions this season. Hughes comes into tournament play ranked seventh in the HCAC in ERA (3.45), while striking out 67 batters and earning 5 wins on the season. Renner was able to earn four wins this season for the Lions and strike out 48 batters while doing so.
After several great individual seasons for the Lions, they hope they are able to put it all together and advance in the tournament against the second seeded Franklin. The Grizzlies finished their season 23-12. During the regular season the Lions dropped all five of their matchups to the Grizzlies but posted two games in which they were able to score seven runs.
For continued coverage of this upcoming series, continue to follow msjlions.com
