HENDERSON — Celebrating 13 seniors between games on Saturday, the No. 22 Freed-Hardeman University Lions lost 7-5 in game one before a valiant comeback in game two was stymied in a 19-13 defeat.
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Game 1
GC - 7
FHU - 5
The Lions (30-15, 10-7 MSC) fell behind in the top of the first inning when a pair of two-out singles and a walk loaded the bases. A double from Georgtown drove home two runs, but a runner trying to move from first to home was thrown out to limit the damage to two runs.
Christian Presley then led off the bottom of the first with a double before scoring on
Cam Madding's RBI single.
Georgetown (26-17, 8-6 MSC) plated two more runs in the top of the second to take a 4-1 lead before a two-run blast gave the Tigers a 6-1 edge. After
Jordan Carter was hit by a pitch,
Adam Smithson and Madding had back-to-back singles with the latter driving in FHU's second run.
Smithson connected for a two-run single in the bottom of the fourth inning to pull the Lions within two runs at 6-4. An RBI single for the Tigers provided insurance in the top of the seventh to set the score at 7-4.
Cade Fuller hoped to provide a spark for the Lions with a one-out solo home run, but a strikeout and a groundout ended the 7-5 game.
Colton Bryant (5-3) was saddled with the loss after pitching three complete innings.
Cam Madding was 3-4 in the loss, driving in four runs. Both
JJ Pruneau and
Adam Smithson had two base hits.
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Game 2
GC - 19
FHU - 13
Combining for 32 runs, the bats highlighted the second game with the Lions (30-16, 10-8 MSC) falling behind five runs because of a grand slam before picking up a bat.
Cam Madding continued his big day with a solo homer down the line in right field; however, the Tigers continued to pile up runs by taking a 12-1 lead into the bottom of the fourth inning.
Cade Fuller led off the frame with a walk before FHU loaded up the bases with one out.
Adam Smithson had an RBI single before
Cannon Daversa lifted a sacrifice fly to cut into Georgetown's (27-17, 9-6 MSC) lead at 12-3.
The Lions' big inning was a six-run fifth when
Ben Turner drew a bases-loaded walk, giving way to
Kimmey Johnson who hit a two-run double to make the score 12-6. After Smithson hit a sacrifice fly to plate Turner, Daversa unloaded for a two-run homer to make the score 12-9.
Every time the Lions would make progress, the Tigers would extend their lead with a two-run homer in the top of the sixth pushing the GC lead to five. Turner would knock an RBI single to right-center before Johnson hit a sacrifice fly to see the scoreboard read 14-11 in favor of Georgetown.
The Lions nearly completed the comeback in the bottom of the eighth when Johnson drove home one run on a fielder's choice when an errant throw allowed a second run to score the Lions' 13th run to pull within one run.
Georgetown was able to plate five runs in the top of the ninth to put the game out of reach of the Lions with the 19-13 final score.
Houston High (7-3) was the first of six pitchers for the Lions, throwing 2 2/3 innings and striking out two.Â
Kimmey Johnson led FHU's run production with four RBI while
Cannon Daversa drove in three.
Cam Madding was 3-6 with
Jordan Carter and
Austin Johnson joining Daversa with two-hit games.
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Up Next
The Lions will head to St. Louis where they will face the No. 10 Missouri Baptist University Spartans on April 23 at 2:00 p.m.
