SPARTANBURG, S.C.— Montreat College's baseball team went to play the Spartanburg Methodist College Pioneers Tuesday afternoon. Exactly one month ago, the Cavs faced SMC in a solo contest at Newell Field where they came away with a thrilling 16-15 victory. This time, the two foes played at Mooneyham Baseball Field in Spartanburg, S.C. The doubleheader saw a total of 22 runs scored from both teams. The Cavaliers (14-20) lost the first but won the second battle by scores of 6-2 and 9-5, respectively.
In game one, Montreat struck first with a two-run inning highlighted by
Tommy Ramos. He singled to left and
Daniel Wagner dashed home on the play to secure the opening score. Still in the frame,
Manny Moore grounded into a double play, but not before
Jaider Morelos sprinted home, doubling the Cav lead. Montreat didn't score for the remainder of the game.
The Pioneers (11-21) halved Montreat's advantage with a solo homer to left field in the bottom of the second. SMC continued its hot swinging and plated four in the fourth. The Cavs looked to answer in the following inning. Montreat had the bases loaded with one only out, but it couldn't capitalize and stranded the three runners. A strikeout looking and a flyout ended the frame.
The Cavs lost the initial game of the twin bill, 6-2.
Matt Campos got the start and the loss in the game. With the defeat, his record moved to 2-1. He pitched for 3 1/3 frames while giving up four hits and five runs. Campos walked four batters and struck out two in his performance.
Trevor Laughlin relieved Campos of his throwing duties in the fourth inning. Laughlin surrendered four hits and a run. The righty from Junction City, Kan. struck out a batter and walked one as well. To round out the arms used in the affair,
Derek Peterson closed out the game for the Cavs. He allowed a hit while facing three batters in his lone frame on the job.
Game two was a completely new ball game. Although the Cavs allowed four runs to cross in the bottom of the first, Montreat took the lead when it plated five in the next frame.
Dean Davis started things off with a single that scored two runs.
Kaden Ethier and
Collin Nelson were the two Cavs to score. Still in the inning,
Aren Smith hit an RBI double to keep the bats on fire. Then it was
Connor Goff's turn—he singled and ushered Smith home. Goff concluded the scoring in the frame when he eventually came around on a wild pitch to take the lead at 5-4.
Davis went right back to work in the third and singled two additional runs home. From there, the Cavs never looked back. Ethier added another single up the middle to bring the last runs to the dish. Montreat won the final game, 9-5.
Dawson Yokley secured the win after a rough start. He threw for five innings, giving up seven hits and five runs. He walked two and struck out four Pioneers in the process.
Donovan Parker and
Hunter Rast finished the game for the visitors. They combined for two innings and registered no hits or runs against. Parker struck out one batter in his shift.
Individually,
Devon Smith was the only Cavalier to register a hit in both games. Altogether, Morelos, Nelson, Ethier and Davis all tied with two hits which all occurred in the second game. Ramos had the only RBI in the first game, and Davis was the hero of game two, notching four of them. Trailing him was Ethier with two.
As a team, Montreat swung for 15 hits on 52 at-bats. It had three hits go for extra bases, and they were all in the second game. The Cavs struck out a total of 11 times while walking seven times, just once in the opening contest.
The next action for the Cavaliers will be a home Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) series against the University of Pikeville Bears. The single contest on Friday is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. at Newell Field in Montreat, N.C.
