BEREA, Kentucky - The Mount St. Joseph baseball team hit the road on Saturday, heading south to take on the Berea Mountaineers in their Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference opening double-header. This was the first matchup of these two programs as conference foes. The Lions won game one 6-4, then dominated game two 17-6 to win via mercy-rule.
GAME ONE | MSJ 6 - Berea 4 (W: Isaacs, S: Caulfield)
In game one of the double-header the Lions sent
Daniel Brayton to the hill to start the game. The junior right-hander was solid throwing the front 4.0 innings allowing only 2 hits and 2 earned runs.
The Mount got the scoring started in the top of the first inning.
Jordan Harley reached via an error with one out, and would eventually score on a two-out RBI single by
Ethan Mason.
Brennan Martin followed that up with a single to right-center, and with runners at the corners the Lions executed an intentional caught stealing that scored Mason.
Berea tied the game with a pair in the bottom of the third inning. The Lions took the lead right back with two of their own in the fourth. Mason led off with a single, Martin followed with a single that moved Mason to third.
Sean Moore was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Jackson Gutzwillwer lifted a sacrifice fly into left to score Mason.
Jake Sanders then singled to right to score Martin.
Berea cut the lead back to one after scoring in the bottom of the fourth. The Mount added insurance runs in the fifth and seventh to help secure the win.
Josh Issacs came on in the fifth inning, and threw two innings allowing only a single run to get his second win of the season.
Kaiden Morris threw a pair of scoreless innings and
Ryan Caulfield pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his second save of the season.
GAME TWO | MSJ 17 - Berea 6 (W: Miller) (8 Innings)
In game two it was
Nolan Miller who took the ball to start the game, the sophomore went the front six to earn his third win of the season.
The Lions scored one in the top of the first and second innings, both coming via sacrifica fly. in the first it was
Andrew Harrison driving in
Anton Mere and in the second it was Mere's sacrifice fly scoring
Tyler Herbers.
They added five in the third and fourth innings, in the third Martin and
Austin Buckle each had two-run singles and Sanders had an RBI single of his own. In the fourth the Lions took advantage of a pair of bases loaded walks, a Buckle sac fly and a Mere two-run double.
They added one more in the fifth on a solo homer from Martin.
Carson Taulbee relieved Miller in the seventh and pitched two innings of two-hit one run baseball in his first action of the season.
UP NEXT:
The Lions will take on Franklin on Monday from Foundation Field in Hamilton, Ohio. The double-header is scheduled to get underway at 12:00 pm.
