WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace's baseball team finished up its four-game set against Mount Vernon on a windy afternoon at Tom Roy - UPI Park, falling 19-12 and 15-5.
Conditions were ripe for the long ball on Tuesday afternoon. Wind gusts blowing out helped the teams combine for 12 home runs on the day. Those 12 homers accounted for 28 of the 52 runs scored. The teams collected 55 hits overall on the afternoon.
The Cougars (14-8, 10-2 CL) took an early three-run advantage in the opening innings of the first game of the double dip.
Grace (7-17, 1-11 CL) followed with an 11-run outburst in the third to storm ahead 11-3. With two swings of the bat, the Lancers put eight runs on the board. The home team loaded the bases with one out.
Ryan Stark parked a 1-0 pitch over the fence in center for a grand slam. The hits kept coming as Grace loaded the bases again later in the inning. This time,
Maximo De Leon provided the firepower, clearing the bases with the second grand slam of the inning. The next batter,
Austin Carr, continued the home run barrage with a solo shot of his own to cap off the rally.
The Lancers held the advantage until the sixth inning when MVNU put up a crooked number. The Cougars strung together multiple hits, scoring ten runs to regain the momentum 14-11.
Grace looked to cut the deficit after the seventh inning stretch.
Annikan Pettit joined the group of batter with homers. He went deep to left for a solo blast.
Mount Vernon, however, scored five runs in their final two at bats to maintain a cushion.
Pettit hit his second solo home run of the game in the bottom of the ninth, but the game was out of reach.
Grace collected 11 hits in the opener with four players recording at least two hits. Stark finished the game with 2 hits, 4 RBIs and 1 run. De Leon added 2 hits, 2 runs and 4 RBI.
The offensive display continued into the second game as well. MVNU opened up the game with 12 runs over the first four innings to seize control.
Grace put two runs on the board in the bottom half of the fourth. Both runs came via the long ball with De Leon and Stark each going deep for the second time on the afternoon.
The teams traded runs the rest of the way with the Cougars ending the game ahead 15-5.
De Leon was part of a series of at-bats that manufactured the last run for the Lancers.
Addison Hickman entered the game as a pinch runner. He picked up a stolen base to get into scoring position. De Leon laced a double down the line to bring him home.
Sean Gannon had two hits, one of which was a 2-RBI double in the fifth inning. De Leon went 2 for 4 with one run and two RBIs.
For the second time this year, Grace hit two grand slams in a single game.
The Lancers will head to Indianapolis, Ind., for a four-game series at Marian on March 22-23. Both doubleheaders are scheduled for 1 p.m.
