WALESKA, Ga.— In the initial matchup of their three-game Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) series against the Reinhardt University Eagles, the Montreat baseball team fell in a close road matchup by a score of 2-1 Friday afternoon. With the tough defeat, the Cavaliers dropped to 20-18 (7-12 AAC) on the year.
Neither team could add runs through the first portion of the competition as pitchers cruised in the early going of the contest.
Noah Christopher held the Eagles scoreless through five innings, allowing only two hits over the span to keep the home team off the scoreboard.
Reinhardt (23-14, 12-4 AAC) used smart plate appearances to draw six free bases in the first four innings; however, the Eagles left two runners on base in each of the frames as RU failed to come up with productive at-bats with players on. The Eagles, who started the game 0-8 with runners on base, stranded a total of 10 runners on the day.
On the other hand, the Cavaliers doubled up RU in hits (4-2) midway through the game, but also could not come up with a clutch hit to drive in a run as Montreat began the matchup 0-5 with runners on and spread their base knocks out over four innings. The Cavs ultimately went 0-7 with "ducks on the pond".
Two hits in the bottom of the sixth, a one-out double and an RBI single, enabled the Eagles to take a 1-0 advantage. The one run was the lone blemish of Christopher's afternoon as the High Springs, Fla. native pitched an impressive six innings, surrendering a mere four hits and striking out a pair of RU batters.
After RU doubled its lead with back-to-back doubles in the seventh, the Cavaliers responded to trim their deficit in the next half-inning. A single and stolen base by
Rey Gonce put pressure on the Reinhardt defense, which proved valuable as an error by the second baseman allowed Gonce to score to make it a 2-1 game heading into the ninth.
Though the Cavs inched within a run, the team went down in order to fall in the one-run ballgame. Five different Montreat players ended the competition with a hit.
Baseball concludes its three-game set against Reinhardt with a doubleheader tomorrow beginning at 1:00 p.m.
