GRAYSON, Ky.— The Montreat baseball team finished its road conference series with the Kentucky Christian University Knights Friday afternoon. After splitting the doubleheader on Thursday, the Cavaliers toppled the Knights by a score of 14-3 in seven innings to improve to 10-11 overall and 6-3 in Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) play. With the victory, head coach
Jason Beck recorded his 800
th career coaching win (800-576-1).
Offense struck early and often for the Cavs as the Knights' pitching struggled to find the strike zone. Following
Mitch Ball's solo shot that opened the scoring in the top of the second, six straight batters reached via free bases before
Tommy Ramos cleared the bags with a grand slam, the visitors' second hit of the day, that made it 8-0.
In the fourth, the Cavaliers put up another crooked number, plating five. Walks once again set the table for Montreat as
Jaider Morelos tallied a bases-loaded RBI single and
Richard Matos Delacruz drove in four thanks to the team's second grand slam of the contest to bring the score to 13-0 through four frames.
Kentucky Christian (9-5, 1-5 AAC) struggled to find any success at the plate versus
Daniel Willie as the graduate student fired six clean innings for the Cavaliers. Willie, who allowed just three hits, fanned at least one batter in five of his six frames to end with eight strikeouts.
Ball registered an RBI in the top of the seventh, and, despite three from KCU in the home half of the seventh, the Cavs sealed Beck's 800
th career victory in run-rule fashion. Beck is currently 13
th on the active coaching wins list in the NAIA.
"This weekend was a tough one for us but the guys did a good job battling back after the injury to Case," noted Beck. "We got our mind straight games two and three and took care of business. These guys are fighters and I'm proud of them. We will continue to build and get ready for the Bluefield series."
Manny Moore (2-4), Ball (2-5) and Ramos (2-3) combined for six of Montreat's nine hits, while Ramos and Delacruz each drove in four runs due to their homers. The Cavaliers hit .417 (5-12) with runners on, .400 (4-10) with runners in scoring position and leadoff hitters went 4-for-7 (.571).
Baseball continues AAC action next week when the Cavaliers host the Bluefield University Rams. First pitch of game one is scheduled for Friday at 2 p.m.
