FLORENCE — Andrew Almon came into the baseball season competing for playing time at third base for North Alabama.

The former Shoals Christian standout continued to respond strongly Tuesday, leading the Lions to a 9-5 win against Martin Methodist at Mike Lane Field.

Coming off a solid season-opening series during the weekend, Almon went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a two-run home run, and he helped carry UNA’s offense through a dry spell early as the Lions improved to 3-0.

The junior had two of UNA’s four hits through six innings as the Lions clung to a 4-3 lead. UNA finally pulled away in the bottom of the seventh, scoring five runs on four hits and an error.

Josh Cyr’s double was the first of four straight run-scoring hits in the inning. Almon, Josh Carpenter and Drew Parker followed with RBI singles and the Lions added a run on a balk to break open the game.

“We were struggling a little bit offensively, but the good thing about baseball is you get more at-bats,” Almon said. “Once we started seeing the pitching, everybody started hitting a little better. It just got contagious.”

North Alabama scored a single run in the first, as Jake Sloan singled in Michael Schmidt, who drew a leadoff walk. Sloan (2-for-4) added an RBI single in the third, and Almon homered on a two-strike fastball to give UNA a 4-0 lead.

“It was a 1-2 count and he just left a fast ball up over the middle,” Almon said. “I was just trying to hit something to give J.P. (LaMunyon) a chance to score from third, but it ending up going out somehow.

“I’m just trying to hit it hard and be more patient, trying to hit my pitch and not chase everything, be a more balanced hitter, hit to all parts of the field. I’m just trying to square everything up early.”

Almon is batting a team-high .714 with an .818 on-base percentage and a 1.143 slugging percentage, and his four RBIs is second-most for UNA.

“Right now, he’s doing what he needs to do to play,” UNA coach Mike Keehn said. “He’s as big as anybody with runners in scoring position. It’s only three games in, but I always felt he could be that kind of hitter; it’s come down to how consistent he could be.

“Right now, he’s having consistency at-bat after at-bat. He’s yet to have a poor at-bat. If we can have that in our lineup, it would help with the depth of our offensive. We’ve had some guys struggling and he’s helped pick us up.”

Chad Boughner (1-0) started strong in

his first appearance this season, retiring Martin Methodist’s first nine batters. He ran into trouble in the fourth, walking and hitting the first

two batters, misfiring on a wild pitch and walking another batter, as the RedHawks made it a two-run game.

“I didn’t realize this until it happened, but he hadn’t thrown out of the stretch,” Keehn said of Boughner. “When he went to the stretch, he couldn’t find his release point. That was the thing that was surprising. Chad is Chad, and when he’s in the zone, guys have a tough time putting hits together. He still pitched well.”

Boughner struck out four and allowed one hit in five innings. Sloan came on in relief and gave up an RBI single in the sixth.

Colbert County alumnus Nick Flanagan doubled in the eighth for Martin Methodist, and RedHawks added two runs on a ground out by Zack Jordan (three RBIs) and a wild pitch by freshman reliever Brantley Claunch.

Freshman Ben Seabrook pitched a scoreless ninth inning to close out the win for UNA.

Next up, the Lions will host Ouachita Baptist in three-game series beginning with a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m.

Bryan App can be reached at 256-740-5730 or bryan.app@TimesDaily.com.