Baseball | 3/26/2013 9:15:00 PM

Box Score VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- The Methodist baseball team rallied from a 7-2 deficit entering the eighth inning with 12 runs over the final two innings to emerge with a 14-7 win at Virginia Wesleyan on Tuesday afternoon.
 
The Monarchs, who have now won five straight, improved to 13-15 on the season while Virginia Wesleyan slipped to 6-15 overall.
 
Methodist, which had taken a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning, saw the Marlins counter with four runs in the fourth and three more in the seventh, including Joseph Miller's two-run double, to take a 7-2 lead before the Monarchs came storming back.
 
With one out in the eighth, Ronnie Hatfield singled and Cody Molosky followed with a walk to put two runners on. MU loaded the bases when Chris Power reached on an error and Steven Kirby followed with a two-run single to make it a 7-4 game in favor of the Marlins. Brandon Thigpen followed with a three-run home run to right that tied the game at 7-7.
 
Tyler Younger then reached on a single and after Stephen Nalls struck out for the second out, back-to-back-to-back base hits by Ray Lanners, Alex Rodriguez and Hatfield plated three more runs and gave the Monarchs a 10-7 advantage.
 
The Monarchs set the Marlins down in order in the bottom of the eighth inning before adding four insurance runs in the top of the ninth.
 
Michael Inman picked up the win for Methodist despite allowing three runs on four hits in 1.0 inning of work. Thigpen nailed down the save, allowing just one baserunner over the final two innings. VWC's Wes Carmichael took the loss, giving up six runs (3 ER) on six hits and three walks with three strikeouts in 3.0 innings.
 
Hatfield finished 4-for-5 with three RBIs and a run scored for the Monarchs. Rodriguez was 3-for-6 with a pair of runs scored and an RBI. Kirby was 1-for-1 with a pair of walks, two runs driven in and two runs scored.
 
Brett Sutryk led the Marlins, going 2-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored, while Miller was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored.
 
The Monarchs are back in action on Thursday when they open a three-game set at Averett beginning at 3:00 pm.