WISE - - Mars Hill belted three home runs, including a third inning grand slam by Gray McCurry as the Lions upended UVa-Wise 9-3 at Stallard Field Tuesday afternoon. The game pitted two future South Atlantic Conference foes as the Cavaliers will join the league following this baseball season.
Mars Hill (19-26) jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Harrison Keslar's RBI ground out scored Cody Kline in the second inning.
The Lions put the game out of reach in the third inning when McCurry belted a grand slam to make it a 5-0 contest.
UVa-Wise (21-21) got on the board with a Dawson Cagle RBI groundout in the fourth inning to make it a 5-1 game.
Mars Hill responded in the top of the fifth inning when Hunter Holland drew a bases loaded walk to again push the lead to five.
A wild pitch and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Brock Smith made it a 6-3 score after seven innings of play.
An inning later, a Daniel Vitello hit a two-run homer over the left field wall before Scottie Lee hit a solo homer in the ninth to provide the final margin of 9-3.
The Cavaliers had five hits in the game, senior Matthew Church had two of the hits from his right field position.
Hank Banner's club will return to play this weekend when the team entertains Mountain East Conference foe West Virginia Wesleyan for a four-game series. The series kicks off Saturday at 1 p.m. from Stallard Field. Prior to the game, the school will recognize the 1989 District 32 Champions.
