JACKSONVILLE, Fla.— The Montreat baseball team quickly turned around after its rubber match against Milligan on Sunday, traveling to Florida and rescheduling Wednesday's contests versus the Edward Waters University Tigers for Monday evening. On short rest, the Cavaliers defeated the Tigers 8-5 and 11-7 to move to 18-13 on the season.
Harold Aguilera got the start on the mound in game one and pitched well through his first four frames. Aguilera's lone blemish was one run in the second that gave EWU a 1-0 advantage heading into the top of the fifth inning. Overall, the Miami, Fla. native allowed just two hits in 4.2 frames of action.
In the fifth, the complexion of the contest completely shifted from a pitchers' duel to a high-scoring affair. Montreat plated five runs in the top of the frame to lead the Tigers 5-1. A bases-loaded walk by
Ashton Hawkins started the scoring for the Cavs before
Daniel Wetmore,
Michael Bell and
Ryan Pereda each recorded RBI base knocks to grow the visitors' edge to four.
The bottom of the inning featured four EWU runs on one hit and four free bases to knot the game at five; however, the Cavaliers capped off a crazy inning and a third with another three runs, going up 8-5. With the bases loaded again, Bell registered a two-RBI single prior to an error that provided Montreat with an insurance run. In relief,
Hunter Smith dealt 2.1 innings, surrendering just one hit and one walk to notch a win and improve to 2-0 on the year.
The Cavs, who outhit the Tigers 10-3, used multi-hit performances from
Chase Bruno (2-4),
Tarik Latchmansingh (2-2), Wetmore (2-4) and Bell (2-4) to salt the contest away. Bell led the team with a trio of RBIs.
After
Rafael Padilla scored on a passed ball to begin the second matchup, the Tigers notched three in the bottom of the initial inning. Montreat would rally again though, scoring six of the ensuing seven runs of the game. In the third, a wild pitch and RBI groundout allowed the Cavs to tie the competition, while the Tigers responded with a run to lead 4-3 through three.
The Cavaliers utilized runs in four consecutive frames to create separation from their opposition by plating four in the fourth, one in the fifth and three in the sixth to build an 11-6 advantage over EWU. The fourth featured a passed ball, hit by pitch, sacrifice fly and Latchmansingh's second RBI of the day to make it 7-4. Though Edward Waters (7-14) tallied runs in both the fourth and sixth innings, an RBI double by
Jeff Cardazzone in the fifth and RBI hits by Hawkins and Wetmore in the sixth gave the visitors all the support they would need in the four-run ballgame.
Bruno, Latchmansingh and Wetmore all went 2-for-4 at the plate, while the latter two each drove in a pair of runs.
Brandon Russell got the win to move to 2-1 on the season after throwing four innings, and
Zach Gilbertsen pitched well over the final three frames to earn his second save of the 2022 campaign. Both pitchers struck out five Tigers batters.
Baseball now returns to AAC play at Truett McConnell on Friday. First pitch of the initial game is slated for 3:00 p.m. in Cleveland, Ga.
