Florence, KY- The baseball team returned to the diamond today, as they continued their quest for the first win of the season. Today's opportunity came against the Mount Saint Joseph University Lions as they played at the UC Health Stadium in Florence, KY.
Josh Wilson opened the game with a triple to center field which eventually resulted in the first run of the game off Dallas Adkins' RBI single, giving Berea a 1-0 lead. The lead stay in favor of the Mountaineers until the bottom of the second inning, when two runs by the Lions gave them a 2-1 advantage. The next inning saw Mount St. Joseph lead pushed out to six runs, as they scored five runs to make the score 7-1. Ron Overstreet began the fourth inning with a single to center field and quickly made his way to third base off two wild pitches. Overstreet scored the second run for Berea on a passed ball to cut into the Lions lead, making the score 7-2. After seeing their lead decrease, Mount St. Joseph scored four runs in the bottom half of the fourth inning to make their lead nine, 11-2.
A scoreless fifth inning led to a productive sixth inning for the Mountaineers as Overstreet reached base for a second time via a walk and moved into scoring position on the next batter's ground out. Caleb Gupton got hit by a pitch, putting runners on first and second. Overstreet, the runner on second, scored another for Berea off William Hislope's RBI single to make the score 11-3. A wild pitch by the Lions pitcher moved Gupton and Hislope to second and third, respectively, before a second wild pitch allowed Gupton to score and put Hislope on third base, changing the score to 11-3. After a Joshua Works walk, a third wild pitch of the inning put the third run of the inning on the board, as Hislope crossed home plate and Works moved into scoring position on second base. The next batter, Wilson, turned a single into a RBI as Works scored and ended up scoring off a fielding error by the opposing center fielder, making the score 11-7. The offense produced five runs in the inning as the third out came from the next batter. Mount St. Joseph gained a run back in the bottom of the sixth inning, moving the deficit to five runs with a score of 12-7.
After an uneventful seventh inning, the Mountaineers returned to the plate in the eighth inning and with one out already on the board, Andrew Akins doubled to center field. A balk by the Lions pitcher advanced Akins to third base before he scored on a passed ball to make the score 12-8. The offense stopped there for Berea as they were unable to produce more runs and went on to fall by a final score of 12-8.
Wilson led the way at the plate for the Mountaineers, finishing 3-4 with two runs scored, one RBI and one walk. Adkins and Hislope each had one RBI in the game. Works, who suffered the loss for Berea, started on the mound and gave up eight hits, seven runs (six earned) and threw two strikeouts. The pitchers for the Mountaineers combined for seven strikeouts.
Berea (0-3) plays a doubleheader for their season home opener on Tuesday as they welcome Johnson University to the Berea College Sports Complex. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 PM with the second slated to begin at 5:00 PM.