MONTREAT, N.C.— On a snowy Saturday afternoon at Newell Field, the Montreat baseball team captured a seven-inning mercy rule contest over the St. Andrews University Knights. With the 12-1 triumph over the visitors, the Cavaliers improved to 23-20 (8-14 AAC) on the year.
SAU (28-10, 13-6 AAC) began the contest with its only run, an RBI single in the top of the first inning; however, Montreat immediately responded with a flurry in the bottom of the frame.
The Cavaliers, who scored in every half-inning they batted, plated three in the first before adding another four in the second to quickly jump out to a 7-1 advantage over the Knights.
Tarik Latchmansingh batted in
Norman Kelly, and
Michael Bell delivered a two-RBI double that put the Cavs up 3-1 through one. In the second, Kelly notched an RBI hit, while
Daniel Wetmore followed suit with an RBI double.
Ashton Hawkins produced a sacrifice fly, and Wetmore crossed home on an error to complete the scoring after two frames.
Kelly, who captained Montreat with a 3-for-3 performance at the plate, launched his first of two solo home runs over the wall. Kelly's bombs in the third and the fifth were the only runs of those frames, and
Rafael Padilla was responsible for two other runs as the Patagonia, Ariz. native singled in Latchmansingh in the fourth and hit a solo shot to right in the sixth.
Noah Medina drove in Hawkins in the fourth to cap off the scoring in the contest.
Four players finished with multiple hits for the Cavaliers, led by Kelly and Wetmore (3-4) as the home team outhit St. Andrews 14-5. Kelly scored four runs and added a trio of RBIs, while Wetmore scored twice. Padilla (2-3) and Bell (2-4), the other two Cavs with multiple hits, each had a pair of RBIs to complement their base knocks.
Noah Christopher threw a complete game on the mound, giving up those mere five hits and one earned run while striking out one batter. Christopher, who picked up his third win of the season in the effort, induced 10 groundouts and eight flyouts in 25 batters faced on the day.
Baseball wraps up its conference series with a doubleheader against the Knights on Sunday beginning at 12:00 p.m.
