Cincinnati, Ohio—On Tuesday, April 5 the Mount St. Joseph University Lions hosted Transylvania University on the campus of Mount St. Joseph University. This game would pit the (8-12) Lions against a (7-12) Pioneers team. In-game one the Lions would fall by a final of 14-2, and rallying in the second game to win by a final of 10-9.
Game One: MSJ 2 TU 14
Transylvania would strike first, pushing a pair of runs across in the first. The Lions got one run back in the bottom of the first, leadoff hitter Jake Lawson drew a walk and was driven in by the hot bat of Tyler Herbers. The Pioneers added another four in the top of the third to open up a 6-1 lead. Following two scoreless innings, the Pioneers added another three runs.
The Pioneers would add several runs throughout the remainder of the game before Caleb Partin drove a sacrifice fly that scored Max Kline from third base. Transy would score another run in the top of the ninth inning to finish the game 14-2.
Tyler Herbers finished with two hits in five at-bats, including an RBI single. Tyrell Anderson went two for two at the plate and drew two walks. Partin finished the game with one RBI on a sacrifice fly.
Game Two: MSJ 10 TU 9
Game two would shape up to be completely different from the opening game. The Lions would score first in the bottom of the third, when two walks scored two runs, jumping ahead 2-0. In the bottom of the fourth a hard-hit RBI single through the right side of the infield.
The bottom of the fifth would add another five runs for the Lions. Jake Lawson drove a ball into shallow Centerfield to score two runs. In the next at-bat, Murray would hit a blooper down the right field to no-mans-land that would turn out to be a two-run triple. In the third straight hit, Joshua Hagans would single up the middle to score Murray from third. The Pioneers responded with three runs in the top of the sixth and add six runs in the top of the seventh, taking the lead 9-8.
Despite a brilliant comeback by the Pioneers, the Lions would respond with two runs. A single by Austin Price to lead off the inning and Lawson would double in the next at-bat. Price would score on a wild pitch that moved Lawson to third base and Anton Mere would single up the middle of the infield to score Lawson, reclaiming the lead at 10-9.
In the top of the eighth First-basemen, Max Kline would make a beautiful diving stop on a rocket hit down the first baseline to hold Lion's lead at 10-9 headed into the home half of the inning. The Lions were held scoreless in the bottom of the inning and McGee would come in and close the game with a three-up three-down effort
On the win for the Lions, Lawson was dominant collecting three hits and two RBI. Murray collected two hits on three at-bats, including a triple and three RBI. Hagans, Owens, and Brankamp each registered an RBI in the winning effort.
Aidan Post was phenomenal, going six and a third inning of work, surrendering three earned runs, and striking out six. Brice McGee would come in the closing role and earn a save, and strike out two batters.
The Lions will return to action on Thursday, April 7 at Wittenberg University. First pitch is scheduled for 6 PM. For continued coverage of this upcoming game and all other MSJ Athletics, continue to follow msjlions.com
