DAYTON, Tenn.— The Montreat baseball team concluded its 2024 regular season slate with a road doubleheader versus the Bryan College Lions in Tennessee on Friday. After falling 6-5 in the initial matchup, the Cavs bounced back with a 7-1 victory in the second competition to move to 26-23-1 (15-14 Appalachian Athletic Conference) on the season, marking the first winning record in conference play since 2009.
 
Tommy Ramos and Caleb Abshier got the scoring started in a back-and-forth opening contest as both players tallied RBI hits in the top of the first to hand the Cavaliers a 2-0 advantage. Though the Lions cut their deficit in half in the second, Mitch Ball's 13^th home run of the year extended the lead back out to two in the third.
 
Bryan (25-20, 16-13 AAC) answered with three runs in the fifth to lead 4-3; however, Montreat responded. In the top of the sixth, an error coupled with an RBI single by Manny Moore and a wild pitch allowed the Cavs to claim a 5-4 edge.
 
Despite the late lead from the visitors, a run in the seventh set the table for BC's heroics in the ninth as the Lions walked off with a sacrifice fly.
 
Three Cavaliers tallied two hits as Ramos (2-4), Moore (2-5) and Jaider Morelos (2-4) combined for six of the team's nine knocks. Ryan Henrickson (3 IP), Joe Tomasello (2 IP) and Dalton Strickland (1/3 IP) each allowed only one run in their pitching appearances, while Elian Cuevas struck out five over three frames.
 
In game two, the visitors jumped out to a 2-0 edge in the opening frame once more thanks to back-to-back bombs from Morelos and Ramos. With Ramos' home run, his 18^th of the campaign, he moved into a tie for the second-most homers in a single season in Montreat baseball history, six back of the leader (24).
 
A pair of throwing errors on a pickoff attempt then scored Ramos in the fourth before a fielder's choice from Collin Nelson made it 4-0 through four. Richard Matos Delacruz blasted a 3-run shot in the sixth, the Cavs' 80^th jack of the year, to put Montreat up 7-0. The 80 home runs mark the most by the Cavaliers since at least 2004.
 
Although Bryan scored in the seventh, pitching kept the Lions at bay for the entirety of the ballgame, holding BC to just two hits until the final inning. Ben Cornelius and Case Jaworski both threw two scoreless innings, while Ryan Keeley and Milo Trevino did the same over one frame. Trevino and Jaworski didn't allow a hit during their relief outings and Tyler Best sealed the 6-run win in the seventh.
 
Offensively, Ball (2-3) and Ramos (2-4) each notched multiple hits and two runs scored as Montreat outhit the home side 9-4. Matos Delacruz finished with a game-best three RBIs.
 
Baseball now prepares for the AAC Tournament, which begins on Tuesday at Hunter Wright Stadium in Kingsport, Tenn.