Baseball | 2/24/2013 11:19:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 FERRUM, Va. -- The Methodist baseball team swept a Sunday doubleheader from Ferrum College on Sunday afternoon, winning 5-3 in the opener before posting an 11-8 win in the nightcap at Panther Field.
 
The Monarchs improved to 6-4 on the season and evened their conference mark at 4-4 with the sweep. Ferrum fell to 5-7 overall and 2-6 in the USA South.
 
In the opener, David Lutz's two-run single in the top of the ninth broke a 3-3 to lift the Monarchs to the win. Brandon Thigpen led off the inning with a double and moved up to third base on Stephen Nalls' foulout to right field. Cody Molosky then reached on catcher's interference and stole second giving MU two runners in scoring position with just one out. Will Sutton then hit into a fielder's choice that saw Thigpen gunned down at the plate, but moved Molosky up to third. Sutton then stole second base and both runners came around to score when Lutz looped a single to right center with two outs.
 
In the ninth, Ferrum managed to get the tying run to the plate after a one-out single, but Mikie Morrison induced a game-ending 6-4-3 double play to seal the win. Morrison picked up the win with 1.1 innings of scoreless relief. Michael Inman turned in another solid start for the Monarchs, but earned a no-decision after allowing three runs (1 ER) on seven hits and four walks with two strikeouts in 7.2 innings.
 
The Monarchs had taken a 3-0 lead in the first inning, aided by Thigpen's two-run homer to right, his second big fly of the season. Ferrum countered with a single run in the fourth and then tied the game at 3-3 with two runs in the bottom of the sixth.
 
Thigpen finished 2-for-4 with a pair of runs batted in and a run scored. Ray Lanners was also 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
 
In the nightcap, MU scored nine runs after the fourth inning to hold off the Panthers. Tied at 3-3 entering the fourth, the Monarchs took a 4-2 lead when a pair of runs came in on Sutton's fielder's choice. Ferrum made it a 4-3 game in the bottom of the frame before MU tallied twice more in the fifth, on a Nalls sacrifice fly and a Molosky RBI single for a 6-3 lead.
 
The Monarchs' advantage grew to 9-3 in the top of the seventh as Sutton and Lutz each recorded RBI base hits. Ferrum countered with three runs of its own in the bottom of the frame to make it a 9-6 ballgame. After tallying single runs in both the eighth and ninth innings to take an 11-6 lead, Ferrum made it 11-8 with nobody out following a two-run home run by Wes Walker, but Daniel Royer shut the door on any rally by retiring three of the next four batters to close the game.
 
Josh Ayers earned the win for Methodist, allowing six runs on eight hits and a walk with four strikeouts in 6.2 innings. Royer pitched 2.1 innings of relief, giving up a pair of runs on four hits with four strikeouts.
 
Chris Power led the Monarchs at the plate, going 4-for-6 with a double, a stolen base, two RBIs and a run scored. Tyler Younger was 2-for-3 with three runs scored and Sutton added one hit in three at-bats with a pair of RBIs, two runs scored and a walk.
 
The two teams will wrap up their three-game set on Monday beginning at 1:00 pm.