Big Bats Power Lions to Sweep
March 20, 2013MARS HILL, N.C.— Mars Hill earned 11-1 and 8-0 victories to sweep Minnesota-Crookston in non-conference action Wednesday afternoon at Ponder Park.
Ten Lions recorded hits and four players homered for MHC. Brittany Gibson launched her first homer as a Lion and drove in five runs with a three-hit day. Robyn Stanek homered and drove in six runs, while Ashley McCurry notched four hits, stole two bases and scored five runs. Taylor Jordan and Taylor Morris also homered for MHC. Paige Schaust had Minnesota-Crookston’s lone RBI. Mars Hill is now 16-6 overall. Minnesota-Crookston fell to 1-8 overall.
Game One
Mars Hill scored early and often and got another solid pitching performance in the 11-1 victory in five innings.
The Lions wasted no time in getting on the board in the first. McCurry led off with a single and Gibson reached on an error and stole second to put runners on second and third with none out. Stanek’s sacrifice fly brought in the Lions first run. A later RBI-single by Aleshia Peek gave MHC a 2-0 lead.
Schaust plated Minnesota-Crookston’s only run with an RBI-double in the top of the second.
Shaundee Woosley led off the second with a double off the fence and Megan Arrington drew a walk. Woosley came around to score on an error. Gibson followed with an RBI on a suicide squeeze to make the score 4-1. A two-run double by Stanek pushed the Lion lead to five. Jamie Hockaday reached on an error and Morris launched a two-run homer to left-center to make it 8-1 in favor of MHC. The homer was the senior’s third of the season.
The Lions added three more in the third. Arrington led off with a double and came around to score on McCurry’s RBI-double. Gibson followed by launching her first homer as a Lion to left to cap off the scoring and make the score 11-1.
Morris earned the win to improve to 7-3 with four innings of work, surrendering an earned run on three hits and striking out six. Allie Carrigan finished out the game with a scoreless inning.
Seven Lions recorded hits in the game. Gibson and Stanek each drove in three runs. McCurry, Gibson and Stanek each had two hits.
Game Two
Taylor Hussey pitched her third shutout of the season and the Lions broke open the game with a big inning in the 8-0 victory in six-innings.
Once again, the Lions jumped out to an early lead with a run in the first. McCurry led off with a single and stole second. McCurry came in to score on an RBI-groundout by Stanek.
Hussey and Golden Eagles’ pitcher Stacey Marcum traded zeroes until the bottom of the fifth when the Lions struck for five runs.
McCurry reached third on an error in the outfield and came in to score on a squeeze-play by Gibson. Stanek followed by launching a solo homer to left, her second of the year. After Hockaday reached on an error, a Peek single put runners at the corners. Jordan then ripped a long three-run homer to left center to make the score 6-0. The homer extended Jordan’s hitting streak to five games.
MHC added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Micah James led off with a single, which Stephanie McGrath followed with an infield single. A sacrifice bunt by McCurry moved both runners into scoring position. Back-to-back RBI-singles by Gibson and Stanek gave the Lions the run-rule 8-0 victory.
Hussey surrendered three hits and struck out a career-high five to notch her fifth-career shutout. The sophomore is now 8-1 on the season.
Marcum took the loss for Minnesota-Crookston. She allowed one earned run on six hits, walked two and struck out two in 4.2 innings.
Stanek and Jordan each had three RBI’s for MHC. Stanek and McCurry each had two hits.
Mars Hill returns to conference play this Friday, Mar. 22 when they travel to Anderson for a 2:00 p.m. doubleheader.
