CINCINNATI, Ohio - The Mount St. Joseph baseball team came into this weekend's series with Earlham tied atop the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference standings, after a three-game sweep they stand alone in first place. In the series the Mount averaged 10.3 runs per game, winning a pair of tight games before a run-rule victory in the final game of the series.
GAME ONE- MSJ 12 - Earlham 10 (WP: Webb, LP: Lally, S: Mason)
The Mount jumped out to an early lead in game one of the series, scoring three in the bottom of the first inning.
Anton Mere led off with a single,
Jake Lawson then tried to sacrifice bunt but Earlham was unable to field it cleanly.
Andrew Harrison then walked to load the bases and
Brennan Martin laced a two-run single into right field, and out later
Ethan Mason lifted a sacrifice fly into right field.
Earlham would score one in the top of second inning to cut into the lead. The Lions would add another in the bottom of the inning, Harrison lifted an RBI double into left center, scoring Lawson.
The teams would go back-and-forth through the middle innings, but Earlham took the lead in the seventh inning. They scored four times in the frame to take a two-run lead. The Lions would cut their deficit to just one in the bottom of the inning. Earlham loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the 8th inning,
Evan Webb entered and got a one pitch out to strand the bases loaded.
In the bottom of the inning,
Jordan Harley hit a one-out single into centerfield. An out later after Harley stole second, he was driven in on an RBI single by
Matt Brankamp. A pair of walks later, Harrison singled into leftfield to push the Lions ahead 12-10.
Ethan Mason came in to pitch the ninth inning and retired the side in order to secure the save.
GAME TWO - MSJ 7 - Earlham 6 (WP: Morris, LP: Lewis, S: Mason)
In game two of the series the Lions sent fifth year senior Aiden Post to the mound to start the game. Post gave up four in the first three innings, but settled in to keep the Lions in striking distance of the Quakers.
Trailing 4-0 in the bottom of the third inning, the Lions finally got on the board.
Tyler Herbers doubled to right field to open the inning, Mere singled into right field to move Herbers to third base. He would score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Lawson.
In the bottom of the fourth the Lions loaded the bases as Martin, Mason and
Kevin Schaaf all reached by being hit-by-pitch. Harley then beat out an infield single for an RBI.
Earlham would score again in the top of the sixth inning, pushing their lead out to 5-2. From there the Lions got to work getting back into the game, they scored a pair in the bottom of the sixth on a two-run double by Herbers.
Trailing 5-4 heading into the the bottom of the seventh inning, the Lions scored three times to take the lead. Lawson and Harrison led off with back-to-back singles, and Martin followed with a single of his own to tie the game at 5. Mason then bunted advancing Harrison and Martin into scoring position. Schaaf gave the Lions the lead with a sac fly to centerfield, and Harley drilled an RBI triple into right center.
Mason once again came on this time with two-outs in the eighth and retired all four batters he faced for his second save in the series.
GAME THREE - MSJ 12 - Earlham 2(Final 8 innings) (WP: Frye, LP: Jeffries)
In game three of the series the Lions sent freshman
Matt Frye to the bump to start the game, and he was dominant. Making only a single mistake in the contest, he pitched the front 5.1 innings allowing only five hits and two-runs while striking out seven.
The Lions offense was outstanding in this one, sharing 13 hits while scoring those 12 runs. Every player in the starting lineup registered at least a single hit in the ballgame, with
Jackson Gutzwiller and Schaaf each had three hits in the game.
Mere, Gutzwiller and Brankamp each drove in a pair of runs in the game as well.
Brock Whitaker relieved Frye in the sixth inning, and was outstanding over his 1.2 innings of work. The freshman allowed only a single hit.
UP NEXT:
The Lions will look to stay atop the HCAC when they welcome the Defiance Yellow Jackets to Cincinnati next weekend. The teams are scheduled to play a three-game series next weekend, with one game on Friday and a double-header on Saturday all of those scheduled at Xavier University.
