MONTREAT, N.C.— Hosting the Columbia International University Rams for a pair of Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) contests on Friday afternoon, the Montreat baseball team split a pair of back-and-forth extra-inning matchups, falling in 10 innings in game one (8-4) before walking-off in nine frames in game two (8-7). With the split at Newell Field in Montreat, N.C., the Cavaliers moved to 20-16 overall and 7-10 against AAC foes.
 
In a game that was ultimately destined for extra innings, it was a pair of long balls that helped the Cavaliers erase two early deficits against the Rams in game one.
 
After Columbia International went ahead 1-0 in the top of the first inning, Tarik Latchmansingh added his team-leading 10^th homer on a solo blast to center field in the bottom of the second to knot the contest at one. CIU retook the lead with a two-run home run in the fourth frame, but Rafael Padilla responded with a three-run moonshot that pushed the Cavaliers in front, 4-3, through five innings.
 
Noah Christopher pitched admirably for the Cavaliers, rattling off seven innings in his eighth start of the season. The High Springs, Fla. native allowed just three runs on four hits while striking out seven Rams in the no decision.
 
Columbia International (12-23, 3-14 AAC), which had scored in just two of its seven innings at the plate against Christopher, managed to push across five runs over three frames against the Montreat bullpen. In the eighth, a Rams' solo shot tied the ballgame at four. Then, in the 10^th frame, CIU utilized three walks and three hits to score four runs and take game one at Newell Field, 8-4.
 
Montreat record five hits in the four-run defeat, with Latchmansingh's and Padilla's home runs driving in all four Cavalier runs.
 
Game two featured a stretch of five consecutive half-innings in which at least one run was scored. The Rams tallied a pair of runs in the second and third frames and another score in the fourth. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers scored once in the second and pushed six runs across in the third.
 
Jeff Cardazzone doubled in Michael Bell in the bottom half of the second to trim the Montreat deficit to one (2-1). In the third, the Cavaliers put up a sizable, crooked number thanks to RBI doubles by Latchmansingh and Bell, as well as two-RBI singles off the bats of Norman Kelly and Padilla. Midway through the ballgame, the Cavs clung to a 7-5 advantage.
 
Daniel Willie, Montreat's starter in game two, settled in after the first few innings and racked up five strikeouts across his six innings of work; however, the Rams kept chipping away and closed their deficit to one (7-6) in the sixth frame before tying up the contest at seven when down to their final out.
 
Rawley Stinson shut Columbia International down in his 2.1 innings of relief work, holding the Rams scoreless in the eighth and ninth, buying time for the Cavalier offense. After Daniel Wetmore was hit by a pitch and Latchmansingh drew a walk to start off the ninth, Ben Brown laid a bunt down the third-base line. CIU's third baseman fielded the bunt but threw the ball away, scoring Wetmore and giving the Cavaliers an 8-7 walk-off win.
 
Wetmore (2-3), Cardazzone (2-3) and Bell (2-4) each recorded two hits in game two, while Kelly and Padilla both drove in a pair of runs.
 
The Montreat baseball team closes out its three-game series with Columbia International on Monday. First pitch at Newell Field in Montreat, N.C. is set for 3:00 p.m.