MIAMI GARDENS, Fla.— The Montreat baseball team resumed its 4-game series against the St. Thomas University Bobcats on Friday as the two sides met in Miami Gardens, Fla. for their initial doubleheader of the 2024 season. Playing on the road, the Cavaliers couldn't overcome the hosts in either matchup, falling 13-1 in the opener before suffering a 12-2 defeat in game two. With the losses, the Cavs dropped to 0-3 on the young season.
St. Thomas (3-0) struck first in game one following a pair of quiet innings to begin the contest. With two outs in the bottom of the third, the Bobcats lined a solo shot over the left field wall for the sudden 1-0 lead; however,
Tommy Ramos answered with a bases-empty blast of his own during the following half-inning, bringing the score level at one run apiece.
A pair of 6-run frames ultimately swung the initial ballgame in the hosts' favor. Registering six runs on five hits in both the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings, STU vaulted itself out to an insurmountable 13-1 lead. Montreat went down in order in the seventh frame, sealing the victory for the Bobcats.
Manny Moore and Ramos each batted 2-for-3, accounting for all four Cavalier hits in game one.
Case Jaworski struck out six St. Thomas batters and surrendered two earned runs across 4.1 innings pitched.
Two errors set STU up for an early lead in game two as the hosts tallied four runs in their first trip to the plate. St. Thomas then doubled its lead out to 8-0 behind a pair of 2-out, 2-run singles in the bottom of the third and fourth innings.
Ramos,
Elijah Stifter and
Richard Matos Delacruz notched singles in the opening few frames, and
Zeb Marquis started the top of the third off with a double to left field. Despite having chances with men on base, Montreat couldn't cash in on its opportunities. The Cavs went just 1-for-7 with runners on through three innings, and they left the bases loaded in the sixth.
Bobcat pitching retired 10 consecutive Montreat batters from the third through sixth frames, but the visitors finally broke through in the seventh. Matos Delacruz smacked a leadoff double to right center, and
Elijah Baptist drove him home thanks to an RBI single one plate appearance later.
Back-to-back wild pitches plated another Cavalier run in the eighth inning, but St. Thomas responded with four runs of its own in the bottom half of the frame to close out a run-rule shortened 12-2 triumph.
Matos Delacruz (2-4) proved to be the lone Cav with multiple hits in game two as he recorded two of the squad's six knocks.
Matthew Rangel and
Dalton Strickland each threw a scoreless inning in relief, and Rangel totaled a pair of strikeouts.
The Montreat baseball team closes out its 4-game series with St. Thomas tomorrow at 11 a.m. in Miami Gardens, Fla.
