MOUNT VERNON, Ohio - Grace's baseball team dropped a doubleheader on Saturday at Mt. Vernon Nazarene, who is receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25.

The Lancers (12-19, 8-11 Crossroads League) lost 12-5 and 10-5 on the road.

The Cougars (29-13, 12-6 CL) scored consistently in the opener, scoring a run in all but the second inning in which they batted. MVNU pulled ahead 4-1 after three innings.

Hunter Ackerman scored in the top of the first, doubling and coming home after a single by Xavier Harris.

In the top of the fourth, Grace cut the deficit to 4-2. Harris doubled and later scored off a ground ball by Chris Griffin.

But MVNU responded with eight runs over the next three frames to pull away for the win.

The Lancers put up a fight in their final at-bats, scoring three runs in the top of the seventh. Griffin, Sid Elford and Mitchell Enyart all had RBI hits, but Grace left two baserunners stranded with back-to-back strikeouts.

Harris hit 2 for 3 with 2 runs, 1 RBI and 1 walk, and Enyart was 2 for 3 with an RBI. David Anderson finished 2 for 4 from the leadoff position, and Griffin was 1 for 4 with a run and two RBIs.

MVNU jumped out to another early lead in the second game, leading 5-0 through two innings.

Grace cut into the Cougars' cushion after Sam Newkirk and RJ Snyder scored in the top of the third.

But the Cougars answered by outscoring Grace 4-0 over the next two innings.

Elford gave Grace a boost with a two-run home run in the top of the sixth, and Griffin hit a solo homer in the eighth. But those two home runs proved to be Grace's only two runs over the last six innings.

Houston Haney pitched the final 1 2/3 inning without allowing a run to score, and Anderson hit 3 for 5 with an RBI.

The Lancers are back at home on Tuesday, welcoming Indiana Wesleyan for a 2 p.m. doubleheader.