Lake View’s Wild Gators shut out the Mullins Auctioneers 4-0 on Monday night in Mullins to open the regular season of varsity baseball action.

After a scoreless first inning, the Gators opened the top of the second with a hit rom Justin Elliott. Brent Herlong and Connor Anderson both reached on errors to allow Elliott to score, and a sacrifice fly from Luc Newell scored both Herlong and Anderson for a 3-0 lead. Duane Nichols reached on another error and stole second, but Nick Collins struck out and Carson Rogers flew out to end the inning.

Mullins went three up and three out in the bottom of the second, and neither team would score again until the top of the seventh when Lake View added their last run. Nichols grounded out to start the inning, but Collins singled to center field. Carson Rogers reached on an error by the short stop to advance Collins all the way to third, and Collins scored on a grounder from Weston Rogers. Josh Price reached on a walk, but Elliott hit into a fielder’s choice with Carson Rogers advancing to third and Price going out at second to end the inning for the Gators. Herlong held off Mullins in the bottom of the seventh to seal the win, striking out two Auctioneers with the third grounding out to end the game.

On the mound for the Gators, Weston Rogers pitched four innings, facing 14 batters for two hits, seven outs, and one walk, and Herlong pitched three innings, facing 10 batters and striking out six.

For Mullins, Atkinson pitched five innings for three hits, three runs, one walk, and two outs. Gerrald pitched two innings for one hit, one run, two walks, and one out.

At bat for the Gators, Justin Elliott went 2-for-4 with one run scored; Josh Price went 1-for-3; Nick Collins was 1-for-3 with one run scored; Weston Rogers reached on a walk for one RBI; Brent Herlong reached on a walk for one run scored; Luc Newell and Duane Nichols each picked up one RBI; and Connor Anderson added one run. Anderson and Nichols each had a stolen base. The Gators had two errors in the field.

For Mullins, Gerrald went 1-for-3 and Atkinson went 1-for-2, also reaching on a walk. Mullins had five errors in the effort.

The Gators opened the regular season with a 1-0 record and are 6-1 overall including preseason action.

Lake View was scheduled to travel to Marion on Wednesday night, and will be at home this Friday at 5:30 p.m. Next Tuesday, March 17, Lake View will travel to Carvers Bay to open region play, and on Wednesday, March 18, the Gators will host a double-header against Creek Bridge. Make plans to attend!