BASEBALL

The Forester baseball team had a rough start Saturday afternoon at Cougar Field, suffering a 14-1 loss to Mount Vernon Nazarene (33-17, 21-15) in the opener before bouncing back with a 4-1 victory in the nightcap. The split wraps up the regular season for Coach Frame and crew. With Thursday’s two losses to MVNU, Huntington dropped the series 3-1.

In game one, things looked promising early when Cam Clarkson’s RBI-groundout plated a run in the first inning. Unfortunately, that would be the extent of HU’s offense. The Cougars exploded for seven runs across the first two innings and never looked back. A six-run sixth inning sealed the deal, invoking the mercy rule two innings early.

Mount Vernon racked up 13 hits to Huntington’s three, with Zach Pelletier responsible for two of HU’s knocks. Four different Foresters saw time on the mound, with starter RJ Anglin taking the loss after surrendering seven runs, five earned, on seven hits and three walks while striking out two across two innings.

The Foresters responded in game two thanks to a masterful performance from senior Grant Simmons. Simmons went the distance, tossing a complete-game one-hitter while striking out seven and allowing just one run and two walks.

Huntington’s offense provided all the support Simmons would need early, scoring all four runs before MVNU finally got on the board in the fourth. Bryce Deckman drove in HU’s first two runs with a sacrifice fly in the first and an RBI-single to center in the third. Pelletier tacked on an infield RBI-single in the fourth, and a Cougar error on the same play allowed a second run to score, giving HU a 4-0 cushion.

Pelletier again led the offense with a pair of hits, while the Foresters outhit the Cougars 5-1 in the win.

With the split, Huntington finishes the regular season at 24-24 overall (18-18 in Crossroads League play). HU ended up tied with Marian for fifth in the league standings but will enter next week’s Crossroads League Tournament as the No. 6 seed.