Mars Hill splits with No. 25 Tusculum
Lions take game one in dominant fashion, drop marathon game two.
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tusculum | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Mars Hill | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | X | 9 | 11 | 0 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final (10) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tusculum | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 24 | 5 |
| Mars Hill | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 15 | 18 | 4 |
MARS HILL, N.C. - The Mars Hill softball team (20-18, 10-8 SAC) split with No. 25 Tusculum (32-8, 11-7 SAC), taking game on in five innings by a score of 9-1, but dropping an extra-inning thriller, 16-15, in game two.
GAME ONE: MHU 9, TU 1 - 5 Innings
The Lions scored nine unanswered, including a six-run second, to take game one versus the Pioneers.
In the bottom of the first, Farley Park blasted a three-run home run to put the Lions up 3-1 after one. In the second, after Maia Sholter's sacrifice fly made the lead three, Sara Rexrode's three-run home run put the Lions up by six.
Not finished with the long ball, Leah Grimes' two-run home run increased the Lions' lead to eight, a lead they would not relinquish for the remainder of the game.
Both Rexrode and Park recorded two hits and three RBI apiece while Bri Weimer and Sydney Hodges each added two hits apiece.
Blyth Freeman won her seventh straight game, bringing her to 9-9 on the year, striking out three and allowing just three hits on the day.
GAME TWO: TU 16, MHU 15 - 10 Innings
In an extra innings thriller, the Pioneers survived, taking game two by a score of 16-15.
Totalling 24 hits on the day, it was Danielle Janson's RBI single in the top of the tenth that proved to be the game-winning hit.
Mars Hill, after the top of the ninth, trailed 15-11 before scoring four to force the decisive 10th inning. The comeback was highlighted by Farley Park's two-run home run.
After allowing the first run of the game in the top of the first, the Lions scored five straight through two, including solo home runs off the bats of Camryn Sterling, Bri Weimer, and Maia Sholter.
A four-run third tied the game for Tusculum, but another Mars Hill solo home run, this time off the bat of Leah Grimes, gave the Lions the lead once again. In the bottom of the fourth, the Lions extended their lead to three, pulling ahead of the Pioneers, 8-5.
A two-run home run off the bat of Addison Hoffner pulled Tusculum within one in the fifth, but a resilient Lions' team plated two more runs to retake the three-run edge entering the sixth.
Tusculum scored a run apiece in the sixth and seventh to force extra innings, where the teams would trade runs until the 10th frame.
Sholter led the Lions with four hits and three RBI while Daci Sarver added four hits for the Lions. Sholter and Park led the team with three RBI apiece while Grimes, Sara Rexrode, and Camryn Sterling each added two apiece.
Mars Hill returns to the diamond on Saturday, April 5 when they face Anderson on the road. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
