WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Grace’s baseball team earned its first victory of the year on Saturday in Florida.

The Lancers split the opening day of their trip to Florida, losing in the final inning to Cornerstone 4-3 but beating Trinity Baptist 5-1.

In the opening game, Cornerstone scored three runs over the first four innings to take an early lead.

The Lancers battled back, however. Houston Haney hit a two-out RBI single in the third to plate Ethan Brooks, and Grace tied the game in the sixth.

Haney led off the inning with a single and quickly reached third base. A ground ball from Hunter Ackerman allowed Haney to come home, and freshman Sam Newkirk had a two-out triple to bring in Wyatt Buzbee to make the score 3-3.

The Golden Eagles responded in the top of the seventh with an unearned run, and Grace was unable to score its baserunner in the bottom of the inning to lose by one.

Haney batted 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI. Aaron Voirol threw three innings of relief, yielding just three hits and one unearned run.

In the second game, Haney was sharp from the mound against Trinity Baptist. The sophomore tossed five innings, striking out seven and allowing one run and five hits.

RJ Snyder and Newkirk both plated the opening inning to give Grace a boost. Synder scored from third on a wild pitch, and Newkirk came home from an RBI single by Haney.

That scenario occurred again in the third inning. This time, Buzbee scored on a wild pitch, and Xavier Harris scored after a single by Chris Griffin.

The final run for Grace came in the fifth inning; Newkirk launched a sacrifice fly ball which allowed Mitchell Enyart to score.

Jacob Hammel and Jordan Noska combined to pitch the final two innings. The pair did not allow a run to score which secured the victory.

Snyder finished the game with 1 hit, 1 run and 2 stolen bases, Philip Wertz added 1 hit, 1 walk and 1 steal.

The Lancers are back in action on Monday with a 4 p.m. contest against Michigan-Dearborn.