MONTREAT, N.C.— The Montreat College baseball team dropped a 12-8 final to the No. 4-ranked Tennessee Wesleyan University Bulldogs on Saturday in a matchup that featured 20 combined runs and 30 total hits. Following the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) defeat at Newell Field, the Cavaliers moved to 17-6 (9-3 AAC) on the campaign, while TWU climbed to 19-5 (9-0 AAC) overall.
For the third consecutive game, Tennessee Wesleyan took an early lead over the Cavs by scoring in the first inning. Back-to-back two-out RBI doubles pushed the visitors out to a 2-0 edge before the hosts ever stepped up to the plate. The Bulldogs then tacked on another run in both the second and third frames, expanding their lead to 4-0 entering the bottom of the third.
Montreat got on the board in the third when
Jack Weisman doubled to begin the inning. The Jupiter, Fla. native later scored on a double steal attempt, closing the gap to 4-1.
TWU scored for the fourth straight inning via a two-run single up the middle. The Cavaliers were able to get one of those two runs back in the bottom half of the fourth.
Zachary Long's double and
Daniel Restrepo's RBI single brought the scoreline to 6-2 through four.
Both sides crushed two-run homers in the fifth.
Gustavo Gonzalez proved responsible for the hosts' longball, plating
Cameron Nagel in the process. Tennessee Wesleyan still maintained an 8-4 lead after five innings of play.
After tossing its first scoreless frame of the afternoon, Montreat then closed the gap to 8-6 with another two-run inning in the sixth. Weisman drove in
Wilmer Bolivar before scoring himself on Gonzalez's single through the right side. However, the fourth-ranked Bulldogs responded during their next turn at the dish. A three-run seventh coupled with another run in the eighth saw the Cavs' deficit grow to 12-6.
Hunter Furches and Bolivar notched RBIs in the ninth, but the home side failed to fully eliminate the gap. As a result, TWU finished off the three-game series sweep with a 12-8 victory.
Tennessee Wesleyan registered 16 hits on the day, while Montreat added 14 as a squad. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs issued five walks compared to the Cavaliers' 12 walks.
"The good thing we learned is that the guys are going to fight and will fight until the end," said Head Coach
Jason Beck. "We showed that we can hit. It just came down to some small mistakes. Really good teams take advantage of mistakes. We did a good job with most stuff, except the freebies. The majority of those freebies scored, and that's the difference for really good teams."
Ryan Henrickson got the start on the mound and was one of seven Cavs to pitch on Saturday. The Anchorage, Alaska native tossed three innings, allowing four runs, one of which was unearned, on nine hits. Henrickson struck out two batters in the loss.
Trevor Laughlin and
Christopher Suarez each hurled a scoreless frame, while
Hunter Rast gave up just one unearned run across 1 2/3 innings of work.
Gonzalez made a significant impact with his second home run of the season, and he also tallied three RBIs. Nagel contributed three hits and scored a run as well. Long touched home plate twice, drawing two walks and hitting a double during the effort. Weisman added both a double and an RBI while crossing the plate twice.
Looking ahead, the Montreat College baseball team will host Penn State Scranton for a doubleheader at Newell Field on Tuesday, March 10. First pitch is slated for 12 p.m. in Montreat, N.C.
