SUMTER, S.C.— The Montreat College baseball team went on the road for a midweek matchup against on the Morris College Hornets on Tuesday. After collecting a pair of victories, the Cavaliers extended their winning streak to double digits (10), the longest such stretch for the program since April of 2004. The Cavs beat the Hornets in game one by a final score of 8-2, then followed it up in game two with a 7-0 shutout. As a result of the contests, Montreat improved to 10-3 on the year, while Morris dropped to 1-5 overall.
 
Morris wasted no time in jumping out to an early lead. The Hornets scored one in the first inning, utilizing a trio of base hits. Montreat responded decisively in the top of the second, though. Zachary Long doubled to lead off the inning, and Connor Goff, who came in as a courtesy runner for Long, scored on a throwing error following a single by Matthew Brunner. Devon Smith walked and stole second, setting the stage for Kaden Ethier's RBI groundout. Justin Austin then extended the lead with a two-run blast to right field, bringing the score to 4-1.
 
Hayden Brooks pitched scoreless frames in the second and third, maintaining the away side's lead. However, the fourth inning proved successful for both teams' offenses. Hunter Furches drove in Smith, who reached on a walk, with a groundout to second. Gustavo Gonzalez capped off the inning with an RBI triple, bringing home Ethier. The Hornets managed to cut into the deficit slightly after plating a run in the bottom half of the fourth, cutting Montreat's lead to four (6-2).
 
The Cavaliers put the exclamation point on the game and widened the margin in the seventh. Long led off the inning with his second extra-base hit of the game and was replaced by a pinch runner, Goff, who scored on a double by Brunner. Smith later scored on a wild pitch, giving the Cavs an 8-2 advantage, which they held till the end.
 
Brooks got the win, pitching four innings and allowing two earned runs on five hits, while striking out four. Nick Kantzavelos contributed two shutout frames of relief, yielding just one hit and recording two strikeouts. Dawson Rodak closed the game with an scoreless inning.
 
Austin powered the scoring effort with his two-run homer in the second inning. Gonzalez collected three hits, including two doubles and a triple, while also driving in one. Long notched three hits of his own, two of them being doubles. Brunner had a couple hits and pushed a run across the plate.
 
In game two, neither team found their way home in the first inning, despite the Cavs notching a couple of baserunners. Montreat opened the scoring in the second frame with Ethier's double down the third base line, driving in two to put the Cavaliers ahead 2-0.
 
Some more run support for visitors came in the fifth inning. Goff scored on Daniel Restrepo's double. Restrepo later stole home, followed by Furches, who touched home plate on Jason Brulport's single through the right side. As a result, Montreat entered the final few frames leading 5-0.
 
The final runs for the Cavs came in the top half of the seventh. Jack Weisman and Austin both scored on Long's single up the middle. The game ended with Montreat securing a 7-0 shutout victory over the Hornets.
 
Ashe Ammerlaan pitched a dominant six scoreless innings for the Cavaliers, allowing only one base knock while striking out a career-high 15 batters. Nick Pope came in for one inning of relief, striking out two of the four batters faced to help secure the victory.
 
Long recorded two RBIs and contributed one hit in the game. Weisman stole four bases, showcasing his speed on the field. Furches scored twice and reached base with a hit and a walk. Ethier added two hits, including a double, and collected two RBIs. Brulport rounded out the offense for Montreat with a couple of hits and an RBI.
 
In their next matchup, the Cavaliers will take on Truett McConnell University in an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) doubleheader. First pitch is slated to 2 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 19 in Cleveland, Ga.