Mars Hill shines on road, sweeps Belmont Abbey
The Mars Hill softball team (5-4) swept Belmont Abbey (2-4) by scores of 1-0 and 10-2 Saturday afternoon on the road in non-conference play.
BELMONT, N.C. - The Mars Hill softball team (5-4) swept Belmont Abbey (2-4) by scores of 1-0 and 10-2 Saturday afternoon on the road in non-conference play.
GAME ONE: MHU 1, BAC 0
Marissa Adame dominated on the mound for the second consecutive outing, striking out 14 in the one-hit shutout win for the Lions.
Adame struck out the first two batters she faced and following a walk in the bottom of the second, struck out the next three batters to run her tally to five in two innings of work.
Mars Hill got on the board in the top of the third. Following back-to-back singles from Ashley Hamlin and Brookelynn Nanney, Maggie Langheim's single to center field plated Hamlin for the eventual game-winning run.
With one out in the bottom half of the inning, Hailey Gass broke the no-hit bid with a double to left-center. In the bottom of the fourth, Adame struck out the side and in the fifth, after a Cameron Cooper flyout, Adame struck out the next two batters to run her total to 12.
Nanney led the Lions' offense with two hits in three plate appearances. Adame earned her third win of the season and, in 14 innings pitched this week, has struck out 29 batters and posted a 1.50 ERA.
GAME TWO: MHU 10, BAC 2
The Mars Hill bats came alive in game two, downing the Crusaders in five innings by a score of 10-2 to complete the sweep.
Maggie Langheim, in the top of the first, belted a three-run home run for her fourth RBI on the day.
Mars Hill tacked on four more runs in the third. Peyton Duba's RBI single allowed Tia Montalto to push the Lions' lead up to 4-1. Alicia Wittenhagen drove in her first run of the day with a single to center field that saw Brookelynn Nanney score. Micki Maxson's two-run double saw Mars Hill inflate the lead to 7-1.
In the bottom half of the inning, Bailey Pressley recorded her second RBI of the game with a single to right center. Hailey Gass scored her second run of the contest.
Wittenhagen's three-run home run, her first as a Lion, put the Lions up by eight. To close out the game, Kayla Gallagher struck out the last two batters she faced and helped secure the sweep for the Lions.
Langheim went a perfect 4-for-4 from the plated and collected three RBI while Wittenhagen went 3-for-3 with four RBI. They, along with Nanney, each scored two runs.
Gallagher allowed two runs on five hits while striking out four for her second win of the season.
The Lions are set to host Lees-McRae on Tuesday, March 2 at Ponder Field. First pitch is set for 12 p.m.
