Fayetteville, N.C. -- The Methodist baseball team swept a doubleheader from Eastern on Wednesday evening at Armstrong-Shelley Field, taking game one, 13-3, before pulling away in the fourth inning for a 10-1 win in the nightcap.
 
The Monarchs improved to 7-4 on the season with the two wins, while the Eagles fell to 0-4 overall.
 
In the opener, Methodist took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Chris Power drew a lead-off walk, only to be thrown out at second after Alex Rodriguez reached on a single through the left side. Rodriguez advanced to third on a single down the right field line by Steven Kirby, and was driven home by the next batter, Matt Jack, who singled on a bunt. A wild pitch advanced Kirby and Jack 90 feet, and Kirby scored on the next play as the throw to home, following a hit by Lanners, was not in time.
 
Heavy hitting in the bottom of the second pushed Methodist to a 5-0 lead, and in the top of the third Eastern made it on the board. The Eagles managed a single run when they loaded the bases with no outs on a single by Joe Grato, a walk by Tommy Strazza and an error.  Mike McCracken followed with a sacrifice fly to drive Grato home to make it 5-1.
 
The Monarchs responded in the bottom half of the frame, after singles by Lucas Scott and Davis Cass put MU in scoring position and a single by Rodriguez and an error by Eastern's McCracken drove two runs in.
 
Eastern recorded its last two runs in the top of the fourth with RBIs by Grato and Peter Crawford.
 
The Green and Gold tallied six runs in the last two innings, including two walked-in runs and RBI doubles by Power and Jack and a RBI triple by Kirby.
 
Starting pitcher Michael Inman claimed the win for Methodist, throwing for 2.0 innings and allowing no runs or hits. Ross Legget, Daniel Royer, and Logan Haines all threw in relief for Inman, pitching for 2.0, 2.0 and 1.0 innings, respectively, and only allowing a total of five hits and three runs.
 
Eastern's starter, Ryan Kehr, took the loss in game one, tossing for 3.0 innings and gave up seven runs (6 ER) and nine hits.
 
Adam Gunn and Steven Kirby were a perfect 3-for-3 for the game, with Gunn adding two runs scored and Kirby tallying three with one RBI. Rodriguez finished 3-for-5 with three RBI and runs scored and Jack was 2-for-3 with three RBI. Lucas Scott was 3-for-5 and Cass was 2-for-4, each with a run apiece.
 
Grato led the Eagles, finishing 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
 
In the nightcap, Methodist trailed 1-0, after a single by Eastern's Angelo Kelly scored Andrew Check, who doubled just one batter prior, in the top of the third inning.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, MU's bats exploded, tallying five runs in one inning. With two outs and Lanners on base after being walked, Pete Wildeboer reached on an error by the second baseman, advancing Lanners to third. The next batter, Colin Ford, ripped a three-run homer to right field to give the Monarchs the lead, 3-2, all runs unearned. Tyler Hardee drew a walk and was pushed to third on a single by Cody Molosky, and eventually reached home on a passed ball which also moved Molosky to second. A second passed ball immediately after pushed Molosky to third, and stole home on the next play to push the Monarchs to 5-1.
 
In the fifth, the Monarchs tacked on three more runs, including a homerun by Kirby and back-to-back doubles by Nalls and Wildeboer. Ford also registered an RBI triple, giving Methodist an 8-1 advantage.
 
After the Eagles left the bases loaded in the top of the frame, the Monarchs added two runs in the bottom of the sixth. After Rodriguez reached on a fielder's choice, with Dockery out at second, Kirby made it to first on an error by EU's third baseman, pushing Rodriguez to second. Following a pop up by Nick Davis, Nalls singled to push the runners to the next base. An error by the shortstop scored Rodriguez and moved Kirby to third, eventually to be brought home by a passed ball.
 
Greg Johnson picked up the win, allowing one run and two hits with one strikeout in 2.0 innings. Travis Johnson started and threw for 1.0 innings and Rett Lee relieved him for 1.0 innings with one allowed hit. Aaron O'Neil and Tyler Hardee stepped in after Greg Johnson and tossed for 1.2 and 1.1 innings, respectively.
 
Tommy Strazza was saddled with the loss, surrendering five runs (0 ER) on four hits and three walks with two strikeouts in 4.0 innings.
 
For Methodist, Ford finished 2-for-3 with four RBI and one run scored. Nalls was 2-for-3 with one run scored and Kirby was 1-for-4 with an RBI and two scored runs.
 
Kelly had one hit in three at bats with the lone RBI and Check finished 1-for-4 with one run scored.
 
Methodist returns to conference play this weekend with a road trip to Montgomery, Ala. to take on Huntingdon. The series begins with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1:00 pm.  
 
--