MARS HILL, N.C. – After a 42-minute lightning delay pushed the start of Friday's game between Carson-Newman and Mars Hill Friday evening, rain forced a stoppage of play 90 minutes later altering the series to two games that will be finished Saturday afternoon at noon.
A game that was slated to begin at 3 p.m. started at 3:42 p.m. as the two clubs were able to finish five innings with Mars Hill ahead 8-1 before rain at 5:13 p.m. forced the tarp to go on the field and the two programs to halt the game. Per league rules a team cannot travel three times in one weekend thus the schools will complete the halted game starting at noon Saturday and play a nine-inning finale immediately following the conclusion.
Zac Brown has allowed just one hit in the game while retiring 14 of the 15 Eagles he faced. The game will restart Saturday with Eric Lynch (Boonton, N.J.) due up to start the top of the sixth inning for the Eagles.
Ryan Addington (Cincinnati, Ohio) set the table in the top of the first inning reaching on an error at shortstop and stealing second base on the next pitch. After a ground out, Paul Kirby (Goodlettsville, Tenn.) ripped a double off of the wall in center field to score a fellow senior and make it a 1-0 contest.
Hunter Merrill drew a four-pitch walk to open the bottom of the first frame. Two batters later with one out, Brett Brubaker launched a two-run home run off of the scoreboard in left field for his 13th blast of the year to give the home club the lead at 2-1.
Mars Hill added a run to its lead in the bottom of the second stanza as Gray McCurry tripled off of the fence in center field and came into score on a ground out to shortstop by Lance Edwards pushing the edge to 3-1.
In the bottom of the third inning, Christian Stampler cranked a three-run long ball to left-center field on a 3-0 offering. Three batters later with a man aboard, Lance Edwards launched his second roundtripper of the year to left field to extend the advantage for Mars Hill to 8-1.
The games on Saturday afternoon from Henderson Field will be broadcast on the Eagle Sports Network as it will be on site for the broadcast coverage on cneagles.com/live featuring an audio stream.
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