April 22, 2008

                Dayton, Tn.—The Lions played a Home and Away series with the Tennessee Temple Crusaders on Monday and Tuesday, splitting the series with TTU and finishing their non-conference schedule.  

                Game 1 took place Monday night in Dayton as the Lions come away with a 16-12 victory in a slugfest that saw the Lions fall behind early, but Bryan used a 5 run inning in the 3^rd and a huge 9 run 7th inning later in the contest to take the lead for good. The teams combined for 28 runs and 28 hits in the contest, with TTU hitting 4 homeruns and Brad Starnes (Sr., Matthews, NC) homering for the Lions.  

                Ben Young (So. Baton Rouge, LA) was credited with the win in relief. After coming on in the 5^th, Young scattered 7 hits over 3 2/3 innings for the victory, taking advantage of the Lions’ 9 run explosion in the 7^th inning. The Lions got big performances from their seniors at the plate as Jeremy Potts (Sr., Danville, KY) went 3-for-3 and scored 5 runs, while Michael Kent (Sr., Lookout Mt., GA) was 2-for-4 and drove in 5 runs to lead the Lions. Starnes added 4 RBIs and Jeremiah Peters (Sr., Sherwood, AR) went 2-for-4 and scored 2 runs. The win bumped the Lions’ record up to 19-25 on the year heading into Tuesday night’s contest.

                Game 2 took place on Tuesday night at historic Engle Stadium in downtown Chattanooga where the Crusaders play their home games.  After jumping out to an early 5-3 lead, the Lions suffered through a 13-run 5^th inning for the Crusaders, and by the top of the 6^th the Lions found themselves down 16-5. A 2-run homerun by Michael Kent cut into the lead and Ryan Keylon (Fr., Sale Creek, TN)drove in 2 more runs an inning later, but the Crusaders added one more run on a solo homerun deep over the left field wall pushed the lead to 17-9. Bryan would tack on one more run in the 9^th, but TTU was able to retire the Lions without any more trouble, and hold on for the 17-10 victory.

                The loss drops the Lions to 19-26 on the year as they head into this weekend’s contest with the Cavaliers of UVA-Wise. The Lions will be looking to lock up a spot in the Appalachian Athletic Conference Post-Season Tournament and can do so with a victory on Saturday.  Saturday’s games are the last for the class of 2008 for the Lions and Kent, Peters, Potts and Starnes will be recognized during the Senior Day ceremonies.