MONTREAT, N.C.— The Montreat baseball team was propelled to a 17-4 victory in a non-conference home contest against the Carolina University Bruins Tuesday afternoon thanks to a masterful pitching performance from Bryson Metts and a series of run-producing hits. With the triumph, the Cavaliers improved to 25-18 for the 2023 campaign.
 
In the first start of his career, Bryson Metts sent the Bruins down in order in the initial inning before the Cavaliers spotted their teammate a large lead in the bottom of the frame.
 
Montreat jumped out to a 4-0 advantage in the opening inning thanks to a pair of 2-RBI hits as the home side batted eight at the plate in the first. All three walks the Cavs drew came around to score due to Norman Kelly and Michael Bell each driving in two to expand the lead to four.
 
A trio of free bases to start the bottom of the second also harmed the visitors after Caleb Abshier stepped up to the dish with the bases juiced. Abshier doubled the Cavaliers' edge with his eighth home run of the season, a grand slam over the center field wall, to make it 8-0 through just two innings.
 
Metts continued his stellar start to the game by limiting the CU offense exquisitely throughout the ensuing frames. The junior from Greenwood, S.C. surrendered a mere one hit and faced the minimum over his six innings of work on the mound. Metts struck out four Bruins during the span, while walking just two batters to pick up his first collegiate win.
 
Following the first scoreless trip to the dish by Montreat, the Cavaliers scored multiple runs in the fourth and fifth to grow their insurmountable edge. Isaac Castro and Daniel Wetmore both tallied RBI hits to the left side of the field in the fourth before Kelly blasted the team's second grand slam of the matchup to give the Cavs a 14-0 lead. Stephen Karis, a transfer from Union College (Ky.), then launched the first homer of his Montreat career to make it 16-0 as the ball flew into the mountain in center.
 
Carolina (18-18) notched four runs in its at-bat in the seventh; however, two scoreless frames from Rawley Stinson and an RBI double by Will Cheek closed out the 13-run competition.
 
Overall, the Cavaliers went 15-for-38 (.395) at the dish, 9-for-26 (.346) with runners on base and 8-for-19 (.421) with runners in scoring position. Meanwhile, the visitors hit just .143 (4-28) as the Cavs outhit the Bruins 15-4 in the lopsided ballgame.
 
Offensively, Kelly captained the team with a 4-hit performance and six RBIs, while Bell, Wetmore and Karis all went 2-for-4. Zeb Marquis (3), AJ Barrios (3), Kelly (3) and Elijah Baptist (2) each touched home plate multiple times. Abshier (4), Bell (2) and Karis all drove in at least two runs in the 9-inning affair.
 
Baseball now faces No. 3 Tennessee Wesleyan University in an Appalachian Athletic Conference series. Game one of Friday's doubleheader in Montreat, N.C. is scheduled to begin at 12:00 p.m.