Montgomery, Ala—The Baseball program of Mount St. Joseph University, opened their 2022 season in Montgomery, Alabama. This saw the program a trio of games against Huntingdon, Mississippi University for Women (MUW) and Virginia Wesleyan. In these three games the Lions would end 1-2, earning a big time win over MUW.
Game One: Huntingdon 7, MSJ 4
On Friday, February 18 the Mount would play their first contest of the season. The Lions would jump out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first, Senior Tyrell Anderson would record an RBI single that would score Ryan Murray. In the following At-Bat, Freshman Max Kline would single into center field to score Josh Hagans.
The second inning saw the Lions add another two runs to their cause. Anton Mere would reach base and then steal second, allowing a single from the bat of Jake Lawson to score him. In the following at-bat Murray would come up with his first hit of the season, driving in Lawson. This would cap the scoring for the Lions, before Huntingdon would plate four runs in the bottom of the second to ultimately win the game.
Game Two: MSJ 10, MUW 1
The second game of the weekend road-trip saw the Lions win in dominant fashion. MUW would plate their first run in the top of the first. It was not until the bottom of the fourth when the Mount would plate their first run. Kline would single in the opening at-bat of the half-inning, then Andrew Harrison would single on the following attempt, Tyler Herbers would bat-in Kline with a one-out single. The production of Freshman would continue in the fourth, as Caleb Partin also would record a base-hit, driving in Herbers. A sacrifice fly by Lawson would drive in Herbers and a bunt single by Murray earned the fourth run of the inning for the team.
Now possessing a 3-1 lead, the Lions would close the door on any hopes of MUW rallying. In the bottom of the eighth as they scored seven runs. Hebers would record a sacrifice fly that scored Harrison. Lawson would record another base hit that plated Partin. With two runners on Murray came to the plate, delivering a two RBI triple. This would bring Hagans to the batters-box, who would shoot a single down the left field line, helping Murray cross the plate, before being replaced on the base-path by Mere. Mere would steal second base, later scoring on a double by designated hitter, Anderson. Kline would finish the scoring for the Mount in his second at-bat, driving in Anderson with a single to right-field.
Game Three: Virginia Wesleyan 13, MSJ 3
In the final game of the road-trip, the Lions would give their best efforts against a very competitive Virginia Wesleyan team. The Mount would strike first in the top of the second inning, as Anderson would find his way home on a passed ball. The bottom of fourth inning saw Wesleyan claim their first lead and would follow this up with two more innings of high-powered offense.
Trailing 10-1 in the top of the sixth, the Lions were able to score twice. Anderson was able to cross the plate thanks to heads up base-running, following his single to start the inning he would advance twice on passed balls and score on an error. Matt Brankamp would record the only RBI for the Lions in the game, hitting a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Harrison.
Through the first three games of the season, several Lions have recorded multiple hits. Murray, Anderson and Harrison all have four hits, while Murray leads the team with 4 RBI's. Pitcher, Aidan Post earned his first win of the season pitching five innings, allowing only two hits and one unearned runs against MUW.
With this Weekend series behind the Lions, they now look forward to their upcoming four-game series with Wilmington College. This series will kick off on Saturday, February 26 at UC Health Stadium in Florence Kentucky. First pitch of the Saturday double-header is scheduled for 12PM. For continued coverage of this upcoming double-header and all other MSJ Athletics, continue to follow msjlions.com
