February 16, 2008

 

                Dayton, TN—Having already defeated the Wildcats of Indiana Wesleyan University twice on the weekend, the Lions took to the field for the final game of a 3-game weekend set and were looking to complete the series sweep.

                Bryan Head Coach Joel Johnson sent junior transfer Joey Mohler to the mound to start game 3, hoping to get him back on track after a tough outing last weekend against Rio Grande(Oh.). Mohler again ran into trouble in the first, but managed to work out of it, surrendering only 1 run in the first frame. The Lions answered back with 2 runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning and gave Mohler a 2-1 lead heading into the second. The Lions’ Junior would not escape the second inning, surrendering 5 runs and only getting two outs before giving way to Adam Polston to close out the inning.

                Once again, Bryan responded, putting up an 8-spot in the bottom of the 2^nd inning, chasing Wildcat’s started Brandon Beachy from the game as well. Bryan’s 8 run inning was powered in large part by the long ball. The first homerun of the inning came off the bat of Jeremiah Peters and was his second of the day after hitting a game-winner in Saturday’s earlier action. The second bomb came off the bat of freshman phenom J.D. Davis, who led the Lions at the plate going 3-for-4 with 3 RBI’s and 2 runs scored.

                The Wildcats added two more 3^rd inning runs in the high-scoring affair to draw closer, trailing the Lions 10-8. The scoring continued as the Lions would tally 2 more runs and the Wildcats would score 3, pulling within 1 run. As the game headed into the 6^th inning, the Lions clung tightly to a 12-11 lead. Junior Daniel Bosarge, on in relief of Polston, shut down IWU in the 6^th and leaving the Lions in position for the win. In the bottom of the 6^th inning, Bryan Freshman Steven Kilgore stepped the plate and hit a missile over the wall in left center for his 3^rd homerun of the year. The shot put the Lions up 2 runs, and that was all the cushion that closer Mark Barnwell would need.

                Making his second appearance of the afternoon, Barnwell was dominant again with a fastball that sat in the upper 80’s to low 90’s and a devastating knuckleball. Barnwell was perfect in the 7^th, striking out 2 Wildcats and inducing a groundball to end the game. The Lions completed with sweep of Indiana Wesleyan, scoring 28 runs in 3 games, and limiting the Wildcats to just 18 runs. The wins bring the Lions’ record to 7-3 and push their current winning streak to 5 games.

Bryan will need to keep their momentum going as they travel to Southern Polytech(Ga.) on Tuesday to take on the nationally ranked(#22) Hornets in a double-header. First Pitch is set for Noon.