Baseball | 3/20/2013 9:46:00 PM

Box Score FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- The Methodist baseball team rallied from a 5-1 deficit then held on for an 8-7 win over Tufts University on Wednesday afternoon at Armstrong-Shelley Field.
 
The Monarchs banged out 12 hits on the day, including a pair of doubles and a triple and also stole five bases as they improved to 9-15 on the year. Tufts fell to 5-2 overall.
 
After the Monarchs had taken a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, Tufts answered with five runs in the top of the third for a 5-1 lead. A pair of singles sandwiched around a walk to lead off the inning loaded the bases for the Jumbos with nobody out. Scott Staniewicz tied the game at 1-1 with an RBI single and James Howard gave Tufts the lead (2-1) with an RBI single of his own, still with nobody out. Wade Houser followed with a fielder's choice that saw Connor McDavitt retired at home for the inning's first out. Eric Wiekert then popped up for the innings second out before Staniewicz was able to come home on a wild pitch for a 3-1 lead. Bryan Egan immediately followed with a two-run double that made it a 5-1 contest before Howard hit into a fielder's choice to end the inning.
 
MU got one run back in the bottom of the frame on Travis Johnson's RBI single that plated Chris Power and made it 5-2 in favor of Tufts. The Jumbos added to their lead with a single run in the fifth inning to go up 6-2.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, Stephen Nalls laced a two-run single that scored Steven Kirby and Chris Power and pulled MU to within a pair of runs at 6-4.
 
Methodist went up for good in the sixth inning, plating four runs to take an 8-6 lead. Will Buschmann led off the inning with a single and Cody Molosky laid down a sacrifice bunt to move him up 90 feet. Kirby then drove in a run with a single to right that made it 6-5. Kirby stole second and Power walked before Brandon Thigpen drove them both in with a double to right for a 7-6 lead. Thigpen then stole third and came in to score on an error by the first baseman to cap the scoring in give MU a two- run lead (8-6).
 
Tufts attempted to rally in the ninth inning off of Michael Inman, putting its first two runners on via a hit batsmen and a single. After Howard struck out, Hauser pulled the Jumbos to within one run (7-6) with a single before Weikert hit into a game ending 4-6-3 double play.
 
Josh Clarke, one of nine pitchers on the day for Methodist, picked up the win. He pitched the sixth inning, allowing just one hit. Inman was credited with the save, allowing one run on two hits with one strikeout in the ninth.
 
Dean Lambert started for Tufts and earned a no decision. He gave up six runs on nine hits and a walk with five strikeouts in 5.1 innings. Matt McDonald took the loss, surrendering two runs (1 ER) on two hits and a walk with one strikeout in 0.1 innings.
 
Power finished 2-for-4 with a walk, two stolen bases and three runs scored for Methodist. Johnson was 2-for-4 with a triple and an RBI, Nalls added two hits in four at bats with a pair of runs batted in and a run scored and Molosky finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and a stolen base. Thigpen finished 1-for-4 with two RBIs, a stolen base and a run scored.
 
Hauser was 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI for Tufts, and Staniewicz and Howard both finished 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.
 
The Monarchs are back on the field on Friday when they host Maryville in the first of a three-game set beginning at 7:00 pm.