Baseball | 4/18/2014 8:28:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- The Methodist baseball team split its doubleheader with visiting Huntingdon on Friday afternoon at Armstrong-Shelley Field. After dropping game one by a 10-1 margin, MU claimed the nightcap, 6-1.
 
To begin the day, the Monarchs and Hawks were locked in a pitcher's duel through five complete innings.
 
Methodist starting pitcher Travis Johnson retired the first nine batters he faced, and faced just one over the minimum in the opening five frames. His Huntingdon counterpart, Gavin Free, worked around six MU base hits to match Johnson's zeros. Free benefitted from a pair of inning-ending, groundball double plays in the third and fourth, respectively.
 
HC broke up the scoreless contest in the top of the sixth, however, as Trammell DeJarnett singled to center with two strikes and two outs, and that base knock allowed Josh Hines to slide in safely at home just ahead of Cody Molosky's throw from the outfield. Huntingdon tacked on another run in the seventh courtesy of a Hines run-scoring hit through the right side to make it a 2-0 game.
 
The Monarchs tallied what turned out to be their lone score of the opener as Chris Power's flyball to right fell just out of the reach of a diving Gunnar Peters and resulted in Steven Kirby crossing the plate to put Methodist within a single run at 2-1.
 
The Hawks put the game out of reach for good with two runs in the eighth and later a six-spot in the ninth to account for the final score of 10-1.
 
MU ended game one with 11 base hits to its credit, but left 10 runners on base. Power went 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI, and Tyler Hardee batted 3-for-3 with a sacrifice. Johnson (4-4) took the defeat after pitching 7.1 innings. He gave up four runs (2 ER) on eight hits and two walks to go along with four strikeouts.
 
HC finished the opener with 12 hits and also coaxed four walks. Leadoff hitter Patrick Kucera was 3-for-5 with an RBI, two runs scored and a steal. DeJarnett went 2-for-4 with a walk and scored twice in addition to stealing two bases, and Hines batted 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Free (5-4) went 8.0 innings and worked around 10 hits to allow just a single run. He walked two and struck out four.
 
In the nightcap, Methodist (20-14, 14-9 USA South) grabbed a 4-0 edge after six innings and never looked back.
 
Lucas Scott plated the Monarchs' first run with a sacrifice fly to right in the bottom of the second, and Ray Lanners singled through the left side to drive in a pair in the third. In the bottom half of the sixth, Molosky hit an RBI single to bring Lanners across the plate to give MU a 4-0 advantage.

Huntingdon (21-14, 16-9 USA South) scored its only run in game two in the eighth off Methodist reliever Michael Inman as Will Pharis drove in DeJarnett on a sacrifice fly to right field. To cap the day's scoring, MU scored twice in the bottom half of the inning via a Power RBI single and a Molosky groundout to give the Monarchs some insurance runs at 6-1.
 
Once again the Monarchs had double-digit hits as they tallied 10 in the nightcap. Lanners hit a perfect 3-for-3 with a walk, a double, two RBI and scored twice. Kirby batted 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored.
 
Game two starter Darin Salter (6-0) threw 7.0 shutout innings for the victory. He surrendered six hits and three walks and struck out a pair.
 
Landon Sessions went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Hawks, and Hines reached base three times with a single and two walks. Joseph Fincher (5-3) was tagged with the loss as he pitched 7.0 innings. He allowed four runs (2 ER) on eight hits and two walks. He struck out two.
 
The rubber match of this three-game series is set for tomorrow at 12:00 pm.