GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Methodist baseball team completed its series sweep over USA South conference foe Greensboro College on Sunday, extending its win streak to eight with a 19-11 victory. With the win, the Monarchs are now 17-7 on the season (10-5 USAS), while the Pride falls to 8-12 (7-11 USAS).
It didn't take long for MU to grab the lead, scoring two in the first inning and one in the second. After a lead-off walk by
Chris Power and a double by
Alex Rodriguez,
Steven Kirby singled to score the two Monarchs. In the second, the Pride was able to hold off
Davis Cass from scoring, throwing him out at home, but were not so lucky on the next play as a passed ball allowed Power to score, who reached on his second walk of the game.
Greensboro tied things up, 3-3, in the bottom of the second, scoring on two sacrifice flies by Andrew Hernandez and Jay Cumbo and an RBI double by Cody York. The Pride grabbed the lead in the fourth, 4-3, as a fielding error by Methodist allowed Jordan Powell to score.
An RBI double by
Matt Jack in the fourth scored two for Methodist and a sacrifice fly by
Ray Lanners scored one, giving MU the lead once more, at 6-4.
The Pride tied the game for the last time in the bottom of the frame, 6-6, scoring two on an error by the Monarchs and a sacrifice fly by James Wilkins.
The Monarchs took the lead in the top of the fifth and never let go, scoring three on RBI singles by Kirby and Jack, giving MU a 9-6 lead.
The Green and Gold scored in every inning after that, and held a 16-6 advantage going into the ninth. Back-to-back walks by
Adam Gunn and
Colin Ford put MU in scoring position, and a triple to right center by
Lucas Scott scored both, putting the Monarchs ahead, 18-6. The next batter,
Cody Molosky, sent an RBI single down the right field line and scored Scott, giving Methodist its last run of the game and putting the scoreboard at 19-6.
Greensboro attempted to rally in the bottom of the ninth, scoring five runs on a double by Kyle Willard and a triple by Zach Neumeister to bring the score to 19-11, but Methodist's relief pitcher,
Madison Cook, struck out two and forced a fly out to end the scoring and the game.
On the day, Rodriguez finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored and Kirby was 4-for-6 with five RBI and four runs scored. Jack went 3-for-6 with six RBI and Scott was 1-for-4 but tallied four RBI.
Daniel Royer (2-0) was awarded the win for Methodist, tossing a scoreless 4.0 innings in relief of starting pitcher,
Michael Inman, and only allowed two hits. Inman pitched the first 4.0 innings, and gave up six runs (3 ER) on four hits.
Greg Johnson briefly saw the mound for MU, allowing five runs on three hits.
For Greensboro, Hernandez was 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI and Willard was 1-for-1, tallying three RBI.
The Pride utilized seven pitchers during the game, but the loss was given to Brian Robbett (0-1), who threw for 2.2 innings and allowed six runs on four hits.
The Monarchs return to home play on Wednesday as they host Guilford College for a single game beginning at 6:00 p.m.
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