YOUNG HARRIS (March 28) – After falling into an early deficit and surrendering a season-high in runs, the University of Mount Olive baseball team fell by a 19-5 margin at Young Harris in Conference Carolinas play in the series opener on Friday evening.
With the loss, the Trojans fall to 20-11 this season while sitting 11-5 in conference action. The two sides met for just the fourth time in program history, as Young Harris is in its second year as a member of the Conference Carolinas. Meanwhile, the Mountain Lions earn a third straight victory and improve to 22-9 overall with an 11-5 mark in league play.
Young Harris established a 5-0 advantage in the bottom of the first inning following five hits, highlighted by a two-run homer in left field. UMO countered in the top of the second frame, as redshirt junior
Garrett Moffett produced a leadoff homer to right field, 2-1. With no outs, junior
Jakhari Howard hit a single to center field before eventually advancing to third. Redshirt junior
Anthony Mitta would record an RBI on a ground out to cut the deficit to 5-2.
The Mountain Lions scored seven unanswered runs over the next five innings, highlighted by a trio of homers, to build a 12-2 lead. In the top of the seventh, junior
Lane McLean belted a two-run homer to left-center, his fourth of the year, to close the gap to 12-4. In the bottom half, Young Harris totaled six runs on three hits to grab an 18-4 advantage before ultimately falling by a score of 19-5 on the road.
Moffett finished 3-for-4 at the plate with a homer, one RBI, and one run scored. Junior
Kayden Crawford went 2-for-4 while McLean recorded a two-run homer, one walk, and one run scored.
The Trojans featured six pitchers in the game, as junior
Carson Gipson suffered the loss (3-4) after yielding eight earned runs on nine hits with one strikeout and three walks in 3.0 innings pitched.
UMO will finish the three-game series on Saturday, March 29, against Young Harris with a doubleheader scheduled to start 1 p.m.
