WALESKA, Ga.— The Montreat baseball team lost a pair of Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) contests at Reinhardt University on Saturday afternoon, falling by an 11-1 scoreline in eight innings in game one before dropping a 9-4 decision in game two. With the defeats, the Cavaliers now stand at 20-20 (7-14 AAC) on the season.
Like Friday's nine-inning affair, it was Reinhardt who opened game one's scoring on Saturday afternoon. The hosts plated two runs in the first inning, capitalizing on a pair of base hits, a walk and a hit batter to establish an early 2-0 edge on the Cavaliers.
Reinhardt (25-14, 14-4 AAC) tacked on another run in the bottom of the second thanks to a leadoff triple and an RBI groundout. The Eagles' lead then grew to 5-0 after the hosts started the third frame with back-to-back doubles that scored one run, while a two-out single drove in another.
The Cavaliers' offense couldn't muster much against Reinhardt's starter in game one as the Cavs tallied just two hits and one walk through seven innings. Meanwhile, the Eagles cobbled together a sixth run on a sacrifice fly to build their advantage up to 6-0 in the seventh.
Montreat broke through in the top of the eighth when
Norman Kelly delivered a pinch-hit solo shot, but that was as close as the Cavaliers would get. Reinhardt pushed five runs across home plate in the bottom half of the frame, giving the Eagles an 11-1 run-rule victory in eight innings.
Chase Bruno (2-3) tallied two of the Cavaliers' three hits in game one, with Kelly's solo home run accounting for the other knock.
The Cavaliers flipped the script on Reinhardt early in the series finale, scoring a run in each of the game's first three innings.
OJ Borroto scored
Rafael Padilla on a fielder's choice in the game's initial frame, while Kelly and Padilla clubbed solo homers in the second and third, respectively, to put Montreat in front 3-0 through two-and-a-half innings.
Montreat's three-run advantage was short-lived, however, as the Eagles pieced together four runs in the third to take the lead, 4-3. Reinhardt then added two more tallies in the fourth inning on a passed ball and a stolen base to move in front of the Cavaliers by three through four.
Suddenly trailing 6-3, the Cavaliers had a chance to respond in the fifth after two walks and a wild pitch put runners on second and third with nobody out. Despite the men in scoring position, Montreat couldn't come up with a clutch knock. The Cavs were just 1-for-12 with runners on base through five innings in game two.
On the other side, the hosts capitalized on Montreat miscues in the fifth. Reinhardt plated a pair of runs thanks to two Cavalier errors, jumping out to an 8-3 lead in the process.
Both teams scored once in the sixth frame to close out the game's scoring. Montreat registered a run while grounding into a double play, and Reinhardt recorded a tally on an RBI groundout to finish off their 9-4 win in game two.
Padilla, who batted 2-for-4 with his eighth home run of the season, was the only Cavalier to record multiple hits in game two. Kelly's homer in game two was his fifth of the year.
The Montreat baseball team closes out its five-game road stretch with a non-conference doubleheader at Morris College on Tuesday. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. in Sumter, S.C.
