BARBOURVILLE, Ky.— Needing a win to clinch a spot in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament for the first time since 2018, the Montreat baseball team got a pair of road victories over the Union College Bulldogs Thursday afternoon. With a 13-0 triumph in game one and a 6-2 win in the second matchup, the Cavs moved to 30-24 (12-17 AAC) on the season, marking their most overall wins and conference victories since 2009.
 
The offense shined in game one as the Cavaliers utilized a combination of impressive hitting and poor pitching from Union to take the shortened contest in seven innings.
 
Norman Kelly started the competition with a leadoff home run, his 10^th bomb of the season, to put Montreat up 1-0. Six walks and a wild pitch by the Bulldogs' pitching staff then granted the Cavaliers a 4-0 lead through half an inning.
 
Following another base on balls and a pair of wild pitches in the ensuing frame, Daniel Wetmore drove in Rafael Padilla and Chase Bruno plated Padilla as the edge grew to six runs.
 
After allowing a two-out infield base hit in the first, Daniel Willie shut down the Union offense, bamboozling Bulldogs left and right through six frames on the mound. The Ooltewah, Tenn. native retired 12 straight and fanned five consecutive batters from the second to the fourth inning, while keeping the home team to just four hits over six frames. In the end, Willie struck out 10 Bulldogs.
 
Seven different Cavaliers combined to produce the team's 10 hits and seven of the starting nine batters drew walks.
 
Jeff Cardazzone then rocketed a ball off the pitcher and into right field to score two and make it 8-0 in the fifth before OJ Borroto blasted a ball over the wall in center field to give the Cavaliers a 9-0 advantage in the seventh. Montreat, who hit a trio of home runs in what turned out to be the final inning, used a two-run homer from Padilla and a solo shot from Wetmore to close out the offense in the 13-0 victory. Wetmore (3-4) and Cardazzone (2-3) each finished with multiple hits, while Padilla equaled the team lead with 13 homers on the year.
 
Adam Bingham pitched an inning in relief, surrendering one hit in four faced batters as the Cavs defeated Union by 13 runs.
 
In game two, the Bulldogs (10-29, 8-21 AAC) notched an early run in the first prior to plating another in the third to go up 2-0.
 
Cardazzone helped start the comeback with an RBI double down the left field line that scored Padilla in the top of the fifth. In the sixth, Wetmore completed the rally with a double to the opposite field that scored Kelly to knot the game at two runs apiece.
 
Bruno then stepped up with the bases juiced and a chance to take the lead for the first time in the top of the last inning. The Summerville, S.C. native delivered a double to left field to put the Cavaliers ahead 4-2 as Ben Brown and Will Cheek crossed. Tarik Latchmansingh tallied another two-RBI hit, a single up the middle that plated both Bruno and Kelly to conclude the four-run final frame for the Cavs.
 
Jared Drayton cruised through the Union lineup, needing only 70 pitches to secure his fifth win of the 2022 campaign. Drayton's complete-game performance featured five hits and two early earned runs, while the graduate student struck out four Bulldogs in the game.
 
Although Montreat registered seven total hits to UC's five, Latchmansingh (2-3) ended as the only Cavalier with multiple hits.
 
Baseball finishes up the regular season and the series with the Bulldogs on Friday. First pitch in Kentucky is scheduled for 10:00 a.m.