HANOVER, Ind. – Over the weekend the Mount St. Joseph Baseball team traveled to Hanover College to open up HCAC play. On Saturday, the Lions jumped on the scoreboard early taking a commanding lead yet the Panthers would climb back before the Lions scored their 6
th run in the 8
th inning defeating Hanover 6-5 in game one. On Sunday, the two evenly matched teams would split games two and three as Hanover took game one 3-0 and then the Lions bats caught fire in game two as they defeated Hanover 19-9 in 8 innings.
GAME ONE | MSJ 6 – Hanover 5 | WP:
Aidan Post (3-2) LP: J. Siemer (0-2) S:
Evan Webb (3)
In Game one of the weekend, the Lions wasted no time jumping on the scoreboard in conference play. Freshman
Ethan Mason roped a double into the left field gap which was followed by ground out to move Mason to third.
Carter Owen then knocked the runner in with a single through the right side to give the Lions a 1-0 advantage in the 1
st. On the Mound for the Lions would be Junior Aiden Post making his 5
th start this season. Post would provide the Lions with 4 no hit innings to start the ballgame setting the tone for the Mount.
In the third, the Lions would add some insurance after a three walks loading the bases as
Carter Owen stepped into the box. Owen once again delivered with a big 2 RBI single to grow the Lions lead to 3-0. The 5
th inning would contain more offense for the Lions as the lead grew to 4-0 after
Ethan Mason hit a homerun to Centerfield which would be his first career homerun in a Lions uniform!
In the bottom of the 5
th Hanover jumped on the scoreboard with a pair of runs off of a 2-run homerun.
The Mount wasted no time getting one run back after the top of the order got the inning started with a
Anton Mere single who was then moved to scoring position after a
Ryan Murray double. With runners on second and third, Owen once again stepped up in a prime position to blow the game wide open. Owen delivered with his 4
th RBI of the contest giving the Lions a 5-2 lead. The Mount would maintain that lead until the bottom of the 7
th inning as Hanover found 3 runs in the half-inning to tie the ballgame up at 5.
With the game going back and forth, it was the Lions turn to steal the lead back with
Ryan Murray being hit by the first pitch of the inning and moving into scoring position.
Carter Owen would continue his stellar day proving his 5
th RBI driving in Murray to put the Mount back on top 6-5. In the bottom half of the 8
th, the Lions turned the ball over to
Evan Webb who would shut the Panthers down in the final two innings allowing only 2 hits in his 6 out save for his third of the season.
GAME TWO | MSJ 0 – Hanover 3 | WP: M. Goodpaste (4-0) LP:
Brice McGee (3-1)
On Sunday the Lions and Panthers would matchup for game number two of the series. Going into the matchup, it was lined up to be a solid pitcher dual as the two starters entered the ballgame with a combined 6-0 record. Each pitcher would go the distance for their respected teams as Hanover would find a way to push a pair of runs across late to steal a 3-0 victory over the Mount.
Brice McGee started strong for the Lions on the Mound as he allowed only one hit through the first three innings of work as the two teams remained tied a 0 through three.
Hanover would strike first with a solo homerun in the 4
th to take a 1-0 lead.
Offensively
Carter Owen provided the mount with a 2-4 performance and Junior
Kevin Schaaf also had a respectable performance adding the only extra base hit on the afternoon for the Lions with a double.
GAME THREE | MSJ 19 – Hanover 9 | WP:
Ethan Mason (2-1) LP: C. Hautman (0-3)
In the second game of the Double-header on Sunday, the Lions bats would come alive after being shut down in the first game. The Mount would strike first on the scoreboard as
Anton Mere opened the ballgame up with a single. Following a sac bunt moving Mere into scoring position and a line out, the Lions put together a two out rally as the bases were quickly loaded after a pair of walks.
Jake Sanders would rope a single to score the first two runs of the game as the Mount still had runners on the corners with 2 outs. Sanders would steal second base the pitch after as the ball would get away scoring
Patrick Murray who was on third as the Lions gained a 3-0 advantage.
In the second inning, the Lions would add on four more runs to break the game open.
Luke LeGault started the second with a single who would then score on a
Jordan Harley fielder's choice for his first RBI of the weekend. The Lions for the second inning in a row would manage bases loaded as this time
Patrick Murray stepped into the box. Murray would provide the Lions a two RBI single to take a 6-0 lead. The Mount would tac on one more run in the inning off of a wild throw down to second base on a steal attempt for a 7 run advantage.
For the third straight inning, the Lions opened an inning with a single to get chaos going on the base path. In the inning the Lions would have 5 different players add an RBI as the Mount scored 5 runs in the inning off of 5 hits and only leaving one on base as the lead grew to 12-0 after 3 innings of play.
Hanover would crack into the score column in the 4
th scoring three runs in the inning to bring the score to 12-3. The Mount would get some of the runs back in the 5
th inning after RBIs from
Carter Owen and
Patrick Murray. The Lions would score in the final three innings to tally 19 total runs and earn a run rule victory after 7 innings.
Over the weekend, offensively the Lions were led by
Carter Owen who batted .692 with 9 hits and 8 RBIs.
Kevin Schaaf and
Ryan Murray also had an average of over .300 as each tallied an extra base hit and an RBI.
The Lions will be back in action next weekend as they travel on the road once again for their second HCAC series against Rose-Hulman. The Lions will play a double-header on Saturday and then return on Sunday for the third game of the series.
