April 12, 2008

                DAYTON, Tn.—On a blustery April day with gusts of wind up to 25 miles per hour, the Lions hosted the Cobras of Virginia Intermont College in an Appalachian Athletic Conference double header which had a major bearing on post-season tournament seedings. Having won 3 out of their last 4 conference games, the Lions were confident, but would need to bounce back from 2 non-conference losses to the Berry College Vikings earlier in the week if they were to defeat the Cobras who had also been hot of late.

                In game 1, the Lions fell behind early as Cobras’ CF Sean Wright hit the first of his two homeruns on the day, a two-run blast deep to left center to give his team the early lead. Bryan answered right back in the bottom of the 1^st however, plating 4 runs to take the lead right back. After Jeremy Potts (Sr., Danville, KY) walked to lead off the bottom half of the inning, Michael Kent (Sr., Lookout Mtn, GA) tripled to right center and Will Newman (Jr., Dayton, TN) plated him with a single up the middle to tie the game at 2. Brad Starnes (Sr., Matthews, NC) stepped to the plate and hit a bomb well over the batting cage in left center for a 2-run homer that gave the Lions the 4-2 lead which they would not relinquish.

                Newman got the Lions on the board again in the bottom of the 3^rd with a solo homerun to right field. Bryan would add 3 more runs in the inning, and score 2 in the 4^th, 3 in the 5^th and 5 in the 6^th to end up with the 18-7 victory in a run-rule shortened 7 inning game. VI’s only runs came via homerun in the contest, as Wright added his 2^nd blast of the afternoon and big 1^st baseman Matt Grimm hit a blast to dead center. The Cobras crept within striking distance with a 3-run homerun in the 4^th inning that got caught up in the jet stream and carried just over the fence in left field.

                With one win under their belts, the Lions went looking for the sweep in game 2, and the offense continued as Matt Hicks (Jr., Soddy Daisy, TN) got hot at the plate and delivered two clutch hits for the Lions en route to the 8-5 victory. With his team trailing 3-2 in the 4^th inning, Hicks stepped to the plate and delivered a two-out, 2-run double deep to centerfield, and 2 innings later, the big 1^st baseman sealed the victory with a 2-run blast to the deepest part of the park in centerfield, adding 2 more RBI’s to his total. Hicks finished the 2^nd game with 5 RBI, and proved to be the difference maker in the contest.

                With Hicks doing the damage at the plate, Daniel Zimmerman (So., Grand View, TN) and Ben Young (So., Baton Rouge, LA) combined to scatter 6 hits over 7 innings, keeping the Cobras at bay in the victory. Zimmerman was credited with the win, throwing 5 2/3 innings of 6 hit ball, allowing 5 runs (only 3 earned) and striking out 4. Young came on in relief in the 6^th inning and did not allow a hit, and was credited with the save.

                Notables: Adam Polston (Fr., Palmyra, TN) got the win in relief in Game 1, throwing 4 innings and surrendering just 1 run on 2 hits. Starnes had 5 RBI’s in Game 1, while J.D. Davis (Fr., Atlanta, GA) combined for 4 RBI’s on the afternoon with 3 in the 1^st contest and another in Game 2. Bryan was hot at the plate all afternoon, tallying 28 total hits in the sweep.

                The sweep gave the Lions their 5^th win in their last 6conference games, and moves them to 16-22 overall and 6-8 in AAC play on the year. With 9 games left, the Lions could get to .500 with a good showing over the next two weeks. Next up for the Lions is a non-conference doubleheader with the Chargers of Atlanta Christian College on Monday, followed by a single 9 inning game with Berry College in Dayton on Tuesday afternoon.