FLORENCE — It took a while for North Alabama’s offense to get going in Sunday’s season-opening doubleheader against Kentucky State.

Once the Lions broke through, however, they scored 15 runs in two innings to claim a 15-3 victory in the opener. UNA completed the sweep with a 9-1 victory in the second game.

J.P. LaMunyon got the Lions going with a two-run homer and finished the day with five RBIs to lead the offense. UNA also got good starting pitching from Johnny Hornbuckle and Michael Watkins in earning the sweep.

Coach Mike Keehn was pleased with the wins, although not totally happy with the offense.

“It’s obvious that we have a long way to go in being able to reach our potential,” Keehn said. “We did do some good things and several guys had quality days. Watkins and Bradley Claunch threw the ball very well, which was good to see.

“The disappointing thing was we didn’t do a good job in our situational hitting. We had some opportunities with the bases loaded and were not able to get the ball out of the infield.”

UNA managed just one hit through four innings in the opener and trailed 3-0 entering the bottom of the fifth. The Lions then sent 13 men to the plate and had eight hits in scoring eight runs.

Michael Schmidt started the rally with a one-out double and scored when LaMunyon blasted a two-run homer. Andrew Almon singled home a run and Daniel Korpi laster singled home two runs to make it 5-3. Josh Carpenter added a run-scoring single and Parker doubled home another run to increase the lead to 8-3.

“LaMunyon’s home run was huge,” Keehn said. “That was just what we needed to get going. Almon also came through with a big hit and we were able to turn it into a big inning.”

The Lions added seven runs in the bottom of the sixth. Jake Sloan had a two-run single to highlight the inning, while Parker, Josh Doyle and Schmidt all added run-scoring singles as UNA extended its lead to 15-3.

Hornbuckle allowed five hits, two earned runs and struck out five in five innings to get the win. Claunch, a freshman from Florence, pitched two perfect innings and struck out three.

Doyle led the offense with four hits, while Schmidt, Sloan and Parker each had two hits. The Lions stole 10 bases, including three by LaMunyon.

UNA kept its offensive momentum going, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first in the second game. LaMunyon doubled home two runs and Carpenter singled home another as the Lions took the 4-0 lead.

Darrmal Moore singled home a run in the fifth and Schmidt had a run-scoring double as the Lions pushed their lead to 9-1.

Watkins, a transfer from Motlow State, allowed just one hit, one earned run and stuck out eight in five innings to record the win. Jacob Westerhouse did not allow a baserunner and struck out three in working the final two innings.

“It was really good to see Watkins throw so well in his first outing,” Keehn said. “I was also pleased with the way Westerhouse came in a threw strikes.”

Schmidt and Carpenter had two hits each to lead the Lions.

“We did a good job bunting and it’s easy to see we have a lot of speed,” Keehn said. “But I want to see us maintain our level of concentration for an entire game. Our expectations are very high this year and our guys have to understand that it’s not going to be easy. We have to get better every day.”

UNA will host Martin Methodist on Tuesday at

2 p.m.

Jeff McIntyre can be reached at 256-740-5737 or jeff.mcintyre@TimesDaily.com.