MOUNT VERNON, Ohio. – Grace College's baseball team lost a pair of contests to Mt. Vernon Nazarene on Friday afternoon.
Grace lost the first game 9-8 and fell in the second game 8-4.
In the first game the Cougars (19-13, 9-13 Crossroads League) jumped out to an early lead. The first six Lancers were retired in order, and Mt. Vernon used seven hits to score seven runs to put Grace into an early hole.
The Lancers (9-22, 6-16 CL) stayed resilient and began chipping away at the deficit.
Jaron Mullet and Grant Buschman were each hit by a pitch to reach base in the top of the third. Mullet would score off a R.J. Snyder single, and Buschman took advantage of a fielding error to make the score 7-2.
In the fourth, Grace clawed a little closer. Austin Carr singled to start the inning, and Sam Newkirk belted his second home run of the season over the left field fence.
Jeff Pawlik would then double and later score on a dropped third strike to pull Grace within two at 7-5.
Mt. Vernon had a couple of extra base hits in the home half of the fourth but would only plate one run.
In the fifth inning Grace tied the game. Carr hit a triple and at the next at bat Newkirk drove him in with a double. Patrick Danforth then hit his first career home run to knot the game up at 8.
Neither team could get anything going until the Cougars broke the deadlock in the bottom of the eighth.
With runners on first and third, Mt. Vernon scored on a sacrifice fly to take back the lead at 9-8.
In their last at-bat the Lancers would get the tying run on base but were unable to score falling in game one 9-8.
Carr and Newkirk each had two hits, and Newkirk added three RBIs. Snyder, Danforth and Pawlik also had hits.
Houston Haney pitched six innings and racked up six strikeouts. Nick Stoltzfus struck out three of the five batters he faced. Mason Meyer also had a strikeout.
In the second game of the afternoon doubleheader Grace got off to a quick start.
In the first inning Chris Griffin reached after earning a walk. Sam Newkirk then continued his hot offensive showing by driving in his fourth run of the day and giving Grace an early 1-0 lead.
Grace would go on to load the bases in their half of the inning but could take advantage stranding all three runners.
The Lancers lead was short-lived, however, as Mt. Vernon used a two-run home run to take the lead 2-1 after the first inning.
In the bottom of the third the Cougars singled in another run before using another two-run blast to extend their lead to 5-1.
The Lancers' offense was quiet through the middle innings before showing signs of life in the sixth.
Newkirk reached first to start the inning for Grace. Head coach Ryan Roth subbed Braden Compton in to pinch run for Newkirk and was rewarded when he scored from first base off of Danforth's double.
Danforth would later score when Mullet drove him in to bring the deficit within two at 5-3.
The Cougars remained undaunted and would add three runs to the lead in the home half of the sixth.
R.J. Snyder would come around to score in the bottom half of the seventh inning, but Grace would not threaten the Cougar lead falling in game two 8-4.
Evan Etchison got the start and struck out five batters. Tanner Clark pitched one inning in relief.
Newkirk had two hits and an RBI in game two. He finished the day with four hits and four RBIs through two games.
Snyder, Griffin, Carr, Danforth and Mullet also had hits.
The Lancers will return to action on Saturday to conclude the four-game series with Mt. Vernon.
