Salisbury, N.C.----The sixth-seeded Young Harris College Mountain Lions prevailed 9-3 over third-seeded and 13th-ranked Wingate University in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regionals Thursday evening. Young Harris improves to 40-16 overall, while the Bulldogs fall to 39-17 on the season. Wingate returns to action Friday at 2 p.m. against Belmont Abbey in an elimination game.
KEY STATS
- Young Harris out-hit Wingate 14-9
- The Mountain Lions had seven of the 10 extra-base hits with all three homers
- YHC left eight on base; the Bulldogs stranded six
- Young Harris had four of the five stolen bases
- The Mountain Lions had the lone error in the contest
- WU pitching struck out 11 and walked two; YHC had five strikeouts and a walk
KEY BULLDOGS
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Bowen Powell was two-for-four with an RBI
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Neil Griffin added a pair of doubles
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Jake Courville also drove in a run
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Jalen Evans contributed a hit, stolen base and run scored
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Brad Hart also notched a hit and scored a run
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Chad Harvey struck out seven in six innings of work
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Braxton Walker had four strikeouts in three innings, allowing a pair of runs
FIRST INNING
- A Jackson Morgan two-run homer gave Young Harris an early 2-0 lead
THIRD INNING
- Hart led off the frame with a single
- He moved to second on a Reed Benamati single, then scored on Courville's RBI groundout
FOURTH INNING
- Keypher Contreras led off the inning with a solo homer to push the lead back to three
FIFTH INNING
- Morgan's three-run shot gave the Mountain Lions a 6-1 advantage
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Gavin Groppuso reached on a two-out single in the bottom of the frame
- He scored on Powell's RBI single to cut the lead to four
SIXTH INNING
- A Jeo Hernandez sacrifice fly gave Young Harris a 7-2 advantage
- Evans drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the frame, then stole second
- He scored on a Young Harris error to trim the deficit to four
EIGHTH INNING
- An RBI double from Hernandez put the Mountain Lions on top 8-3
NINTH INNING
- A Jonny Smith RBI double made the final margin 9-3
WRAPUP
- Sam Neal got the win, allowing three runs on nine hits in eight innings, striking out four
- Harvey took the loss, allowing seven runs on 10 hits in six innings, striking out seven
UP NEXT
- Wingate is back in action Friday, taking on Belmont Abbey in an elimination game
- If the 'Dogs win, they would be back in action Saturday
