Cougar News
Baseball - Sat, Apr. 6, 2013
HENDERSON, Tenn. - Walks have been an issue for the Mid-Continent University baseball team all season, and on Friday evening, the problem came to the forefront again. The Mid-Continent bats, however, began to come to life, nearly helping to overcome the free passes.
NAIA #18 Freed-Hardeman (29-5-1) put a five-spot on the board in the bottom of the third inning, drawing three walks in the inning, and though Mid-Continent (9-25, 0-4) rallied, the Lions held on for the win 7-5.
Hunter Bolden lashed the first of his two doubles in the game in the top of the first inning, and with two out in the frame, Joseph Blair looped a single to left center to knock in Bolden and stake Mid-Continent to a 1-0 lead. The Lions tied the score with a run in the bottom of the second, then took the lead in the third. The Lions claimed the 2-1 edge with one out, then broke the game open, scoring four times with two out in the inning, using a bases loaded walk and a bases-clearing double to push across four more runs and push their lead to 6-1. Mid-Continent began to rally in the sixth frame, stringing together five consecutive hits to begin the stanza, including Bolden's second double of the game, cutting the deficit to 6-4. Freed-Hardeman tallied a run with two out in the bottom of the sixth on a wild pitch, but Dondre McCarter got the run right back for the Cougars, leading off the seventh inning with a long solo homer to left field, making the score 7-5. Luke Deaton held the Lions at bay in the seventh and eighth frames, but the Cougars were not able to get anything going offensively, and the Lions hung on for the 7-5 win.
Chris Hatfield (5-2) picked up the win for the Lions, throwing his fifth complete game of the season. Hatfield gave up five earned runs on 12 hits, fanning six Cougars in the process. Blake Balderaz (0-8) was lifted after two and two thirds innings of work, giving up four earned runs on five hits and three walks and a strikeout in the loss.
Offensively, the Cougars got big efforts from Bolden, Blair, McCarter, and Uriel Hawkins. Each had multi-hit games for Mid-Continent, with Bolden picking up a pair of doubles and two runs scored, Hawkins tallying a run, and McCarter blasting the first homer of his Mid-Continent Career. Richard Arias had a pair of RBIs in the game for Mid-Continent as well.
The two teams will wrap up their TranSouth weekend series on Saturday with a double-header. First pitch is scheduled for noon.
