MARS HILL, N.C. – Needing a win to split the season series with the Lions, the Limestone College baseball team got off to a booming start only to watch Mars Hill University pull away late to complete the sweep with a 15-9 decision in nonconference play on Wednesday, March 13 at Henderson Field.  
 
GAME INFORMATION
Score: Mars Hill 15, Limestone 9
Records: Mars Hill (11-12), Limestone (7-16)
Location: Henderson Field
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
 

• Junior Jeff Towle (Stony Brook, N.Y.) finished with one hit – a homerun – but posted five RBIs
• Senior Ryan Creps (Indiana, Pa.) added a two-run homerun and a walk
• Senior Chase Allen (Sharpsburg, Ga.) registered his 51^st career homerun
• Junior Trace Whetsell (Gilbert, S.C.) chipped in a pair of base hits
• Junior Alex Cornell (Columbia, Conn.) extended his hitting streak to six straight games
• Junior Josh Evans (Indian Land, S.C.) tallied a hit and three walks
• Junior starter Thomas Walden (Raleigh, N.C.) took the loss in just one inning of work
• Senior Channing Painton (Marietta, Ga.) posted two strikeouts in his first career appearance

 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Innings 1-3
 
Limestone got off to a fast start as Whetsell started the game with a single through the left side before Creps launched a two-run homerun – his fourth of the season – over the fence in right-centerfield. The Saints were content with the quick 2-0 lead as the next three batters were retired quietly in the first.
 
That lead evaporated before Limestone was able to record the first out in the bottom of the first, however, as Mars Hill followed up a leadoff homerun with a two-run blast just three batters into the lineup. The Lions added a single tally following a leadoff walk in the second, doubling up the Saints, 4-2, early on.    
 
Innings 4-6
 
Junior Matt Hilderbrandt (Bowmanville, Ontario) worked a walk to start the fourth before Cornell immediately moved him over with a base knock. Two batters later, Towle would cut the deficit to 4-3 for the Blue and Gold as he chased Hilderbrandt home with an RBI groundout to shortstop.
 
The Lions answered in the home half with another two-run homerun, but Limestone remained within striking distance, 6-5, as Allen crushed his 51^st career homerun – a two-run shot – in the top of the fifth. Mars Hill scored on a drop third strike in the fifth before a solo homerun in the sixth made it an 8-5 affair.   
 
Innings 7-9
 
The game was put well out of reach in the bottom of the seventh as Mars Hill platted seven runs after sending 13 men to the dish. Two run-scoring doubles started the scoring before the Lions added tallies later in the frame on a pair of RBI singles and two hit batters with the bases loaded, making it 15-5.
 
Towle cranked a three-run homerun – his second long ball of the year – in the eighth and then pushed across another run after getting plunked by a pitch with the bases full of Saints in the ninth, but it was not nearly enough as Mars Hill completed the series sweep with the 15-9 decision.  
 
TURNING POINT
 
After spotting Limestone a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first, Mars Hill responded with three runs in the bottom of the frame before the Saints were able to record the first out of the day. The Lions countered each time the Blue and Gold pushed across runs before pulling away with a seven-run seventh.  
 
NOTABLES
 

• Mars Hill scored 28 runs against the Saints over two games this season
• Painton, the starting shortstop, was the only Limestone pitcher to record a 1-2-3 inning of work
• Allen moved up to third on the program's all-time career RBI list, passing Chad Balderman
• He now has 152 career RBIs and needs 13 more to pass Justin Pace for second all-time

 
UP NEXT
 
Limestone returns home to Founders FCU Stadium to host No. 8 North Greenville University for a three-game Conference Carolinas series. Game one of the series is set for Friday, March 15 at 6 p.m.