DENMARK, S.C.— The Montreat baseball team traveled to South Carolina for a non-conference doubleheader against the Voorhees University Tigers Thursday afternoon. With a close 4-3 triumph in the first matchup and a 10-2 win in the second game, the Cavaliers leveled their overall record to 13-13 for the 2024 campaign.
Voorhees (8-17) grabbed a quick 1-0 advantage thanks to a wild pitch in the initial frame of the opening contest; however, a sacrifice fly from
Manny Moore tied the game in the ensuing half inning and an RBI groundout by
Jeff Cardazzone handed the Cavs a 2-1 advantage in the third.
In the tight ballgame,
Zeb Marquis and
Andres Balart gave the visitors some insurance in the top of the fifth. Marquis tallied a sacrifice fly and Balart drove in a run with his RBI single to make it 4-1 through four and a half frames. Although the Tigers pulled within one in the bottom of the inning, the Cavaliers held on to claim their slim 4-3 triumph due to their effective pitching.
Voorhees notched more hits than the Cavs (4-3), but
Daniel Willie and
Dalton Strickland shut down the home side to ensure the win. Willie went six innings on the mound, allowing just four hits while striking out 10 Tigers and improving to 4-4 on the season. Strickland pitched a hitless seventh and struck out two for his first save of the year.
Montreat matched its hit total from the entire first game in the opening inning of the latter competition, recording a trio of hits, including
Mitch Ball's fifth home run of the season to lead 2-0. Despite a run from VU, the Cavaliers answered with three more in the second capped off by a 2-run single off the bat of
Jaider Morelos to extend the gap to 5-1.
Ben Cornelius cruised through his four innings of work on the mound for the Cavaliers. The Lake Zurich, Ill. native settled in to retire the final nine batters he faced, while striking out five over his outing. In the end, Cornelius allowed a mere two hits and one run to notch his first win of 2024 (1-1).
The Cavs slowly grew their lead as the visitors crossed home in their final four times at the plate. Sacrifice flies in both the fourth and fifth added to the advantage before an RBI single from
Jonathan Gonzalez in the sixth and a 2-run homer off the bat of
Tommy Ramos made it 10-2 in the final frame.
Ryan Keeley pitched two relief innings, surrendering two hits and an unearned run, prior to
Joe Tomasello collecting a scoreless bottom of the seventh to wrap up the triumph.
In the matchup, Montreat outhit the Tigers 13-5 as five Cavaliers finished with multiple hits. The 2-3-4 batters in the lineup combined to go 8-for-18 thanks to 3-for-4 performances from Morelos and Ball followed by a 2-for-5 showing from Gonzalez.
Richard Matos Delacruz and
Elijah Stifter both ended 2-for-3 at the dish, while Marquis, Morelos, Ball and Ramos all registered a pair of RBIs. Ball and Delacruz each scored twice in the victory.
Baseball now returns to the state of North Carolina for another non-conference twin bill, this time versus the Carolina University Bruins in Mocksville on Saturday. First pitch of game one for the freshly-added doubleheader is scheduled for 2 p.m.
