Men’s baseball fell to 3-1 on the season after traveling to Rome, Georgia, Tuesday to take on the Shorter University Hawks in a non-conference game.

Tight pitching from the Shorter staff shut down the Bryan bats that were so hot this past week. Shorter pitcher, Ryan Newell, recorded 12 strikeouts before coming off in the seventh inning. The Lions could only manage two hits against such good pitching.

However, solid pitching from Senior Tyson Latham kept the score at 1-0, in favor of the Hawks, for six innings. Senior Zach Breazeale took the mound in the seventh and gave up three hits, which led to two runs for the Hawks. The Lions committed seven errors in the loss. The final score was 3-0.

The Lions are now 3-1 and look to take on the University of Rio Grande (Oh.) this Friday at 5 p.m.

Senior middle-infielder Steven Brown at the plate / Triangle photo by Josiah Newport

Josiah Newport
Triangle Reporter

The Bryan Lions Baseball team showed it was here to play this season with an impressive sweep against the Toccoa Falls (Ga.) College Eagles on Feb. 2^nd and 3^rd at Senter Field.

“Our bullpen stepped up during this series,” said Head Coach Taylor Hasty when asked about the weekend. “This is the first time in 10 years that we have ever started the season off 3-0. Our guys demonstrated a lot of maturity; a lot of key plays were made.”

Seven strikeouts for Keesee, Veal leads with five RBIs and one home run

On Thursday, senior Kemonte Keesee started on the mound for the Lions, throwing seven strikeouts and only giving up two runs in five innings. Freshman Kenny Knudsen pitched the last two innings, striking out four batters.

The Lions opened up the game with sophomore second baseman Tyler Latham smashing his first home run of the season. Junior shortstop Billy Veal, batting fifth, doubled, making the score 2-0. Designated hitter, junior Andrew Smith followed Veal with his first home run of the season, making the score 5-0.

In the second, right fielder senior Doug Stroup stepped up to the plate, took a swing, and sent his first home run of season right over the scoreboard. In the bottom of the sixth Veal hit his first home run, a three-run shot, making it 10-2. The final score was 14-2 when the game was called in the seventh inning.

Billy Veal led the team with five RBIs and one home run.

Lions close out series in convincing manner

The Lions closed out their three game series with the Eagles on Friday afternoon, winning by scores of 8-5 and 5-3.

In the top half of the doubleheader, senior Jason Ridenhour pitched five innings, throwing seven strikeouts and giving up four runs. Senior Zach Breazeale pitched the sixth inning, giving up one run. Junior Adam Sanders pitched the seventh, a perfect inning, and got the save.

The Lions were up 3-0 at the end of the first inning thanks to a home run by Veal and a double by left-fielder senior Kevin Lane. Sophomore catcher Dwayne Boyd hit a home run in the fifth to bring the score to 7-4. Senior center-fielder Shane Clawson added another run by stealing second, third and eventually home. The final score of game one was 8-5.

Game two was tighter, but the Lions managed to pull out the win. Junior Tanner Brown pitched five innings, only giving up two runs, and earned the win. He was replaced by freshman John Cain who got two outs but then was replaced by Sanders who got the last out, even though the bases were loaded for the Eagles.

The game was tied 2-2 until the fourth inning when junior designated hitter Tyler Carroll hit a huge home run over left field. Strong defense in the sixth and seventh innings kept the Lions ahead to win 5-3.

Veal led Bryan again with three RBIs and one home run. Sanders got two saves.

The Lions lost their first road game at Shorter University Tuesday by a final score of 3-0. They play again in a doubleheader against Rio Grande (Ohio) University on Friday and Saturday.

The Bryan Lion’s baseball team tackled a tough three-game series this past weekend against the RedStorm of the University of Rio Grande (Ohio) and came out with two loses and one determined win.

Head Coach Taylor Hasty said that the RedStorm is a “very well-coached team from top to bottom” with “five really good seniors in their lineup who can all hit.”

This showed Friday night as Rio Grande took the lead in the first inning and caused a devastating loss of 15-3 for the Lions.

“Friday, we failed to throw strikes, and we really didn’t finish off hitters,” commented Hasty. “We had eight total walks, seven of which scored and we kind of lost momentum as a result of that.”

Junior pitcher Bronson Holland said, “I believe we’re better than the team we played. We just made costly mistakes.”

Saturday proved to be better for the Lions with the first game a close loss and the second a solid win.

“In game one, we didn’t have a good offense approach and got away from our hitting philosophy, but in game two we did much better offensively at the plate,” said Hasty, who continued by praising the Lions’ defense that shut down the RedStorms’ running game.

The first highlight of Saturday came when senior catcher Jon Brown took an 85mph fastball to the face, a move that junior outfielder Josh King referred to as, “taking one off the cheek for the team.”

Brown continued to have “two great games on Saturday after not playing on Friday,” said Hasty. “He went 4 for 4 with a home run and two singles.”

The Lions kept the momentum growing Saturday by starting the final game with a three-run home run by freshman pitcher Josh Harris, giving the team a 4-0 lead.

Hasty said that “Zach Breazeale threw exceptionally well as a starter in game three and Josh Harris came in and finished the game well for the team.”

Sophomore outfielder Shane Clawson was also an outstanding player in the final game, hitting two home runs, including the game-winning three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Although the team came out 1-2 for the weekend, they are now 4-3 overall, and Hasty is unconcerned about the loss. His philosophy for the rest of the season: “We’re just going to take one game at a time.”

“As a team, we want our identity to be one where we are fundamentally strong and tough, and I think that winning game three out of a three game series after getting beat the first two demonstrates toughness and character.”

The Lions play at home again this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in the Bryan College Invitational. The first game will begin at 6 p.m. against Toccoa Falls College (Ga.).