The UNA baseball team got back on track as the Lions took two out of three games from rival Alabama-Huntsville at home this past weekend.

The Lions came into the series struggling, going .500 over the last six games to start the conference schedule, but took two games from rival Alabama-Huntsville, giving the Lions a 16-7 record overall and 3-2 in the Gulf South Conference.

“Our team has been struggling going into this weekend and we wanted to try to get our intensity back up and our level of play to get better,” said head coach Mike Keehn.

“We know a lot of the guys that plays for that team, and we want to beat those guys real bad,” said shortstop Josh Carpenter.

In game one the Lions got a solid performance from Trey Mitchell, who pitched seven and two-thirds innings allowing four runs and only one of them was earned with nine strikeouts, improving his record to 5-1.

UAH got on the board early in the first inning, taking a 1-0 lead, but the Lions quickly tied it up in the bottom of the inning. The Lions then added a run in the second when Dale Ricketts hit a solo home run.

The Lions extended their lead in the fourth, scoring three runs making it 5-1. Michael Schmidt drove in one run with an RBI single, and Blake Stroth had a two-run single. The Chargers then inched closer with a two-run homerun in the fifth inning, making it 5-3.

The Lions then made it 6-3 in the sixth when Dale Ricketts tripled and scored on a Nick McGregor sacrifice fly. Joel Sessions then picked up his fourth save in the ninth with a final score of 6-4.

In game two the Lions left nine runners on base as UNA lost the contest 6-4. The Chargers took a 4-0 lead in the third, but the Lions tied it back up in the bottom of the inning. The Chargers then added two more runs and held the lead the rest of the game.

Johnny Hornbuckle (3-2) picked up the loss, allowing six runs on nine hits and striking out seven, and Casey Jones pitched two and one-third scoreless innings.

In game three it was smooth sailing for the Lions as they picked up an 8-0 lead in the seventh, but UNA had to hold on in the ninth for an 8-6 win. Chad Boughner (3-1) got the win for the Lions, allowing two runs on five hits with eight strikeouts.

The Lions jumped on UAH with seven runs in the third and added another run in the fifth to make it 8-0. The Chargers did not go away quietly, cutting the lead to just 2 runs with two runners on in the ninth, but Jake Sloan came in to close the game.

Schmidt had a good series in the lead-off spot going six for 11 for the Lions with three runs scored helping the top of the lineup.

“It is huge to have our lead-off batter get on base because he has a lot of speed and he is a base stealing threat, so it’s big to get him on base,” Keehn said.

“Overall we are learning we have to be at the top of our game each time we come out and we can’t just show up and expect to win a game in this league”.

The Lions will travel to Valdosta State for a weekend series with a double-header on Saturday beginning at 1:00 p.m. and a game on Sunday also at 1:00 p.m.