No. 22 MU Baseball Slugs Past N.C. Wesleyan Capture Sweep of Series
 
WILSON, N.C. – The 22nd ranked Methodist baseball team tallied 15 hits, including three doubles, in a Saturday series finale game against N.C. Wesleyan, winning 8-3.
 
Chris Power started things off strong for the Monarchs (29-8, 21-6), leading off the first inning with a double to left center. After a ground out by Alex Rodriguez advanced him to third, a single up the middle by Steven Kirby plated Power, giving MU a 1-0 lead.
 
Methodist loaded the bases in the second on singles by Lucas Scott and Cody Molosky, and after Power was hit by a pitch, a sacrifice fly by Rodriguez scored Scott for a 2-0- advantage.
 
The Battling Bishops (10-28, 8-22) made it a one-run game in the top of the third, scoring on an RBI single by Justin DiSanto.
 
The Green and Gold added another in the bottom of the fourth for a 3-1 lead, and NCWC responded in the top of the fifth with back-to-back RBI singles by DiSanto and James Lovett to tie the game, 3-3.
 
MU regained the lead in the home half of the fifth, and never let go. After a Matt Jack strikeout, Ray Lanners singled to right field and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Pete Wildeboer drew a walk and a single by Stephen Nalls scored Lanners to give Methodist back the lead, 4-3. A fielding error by NCWC allowed Cody Molosky to reach and Wildeboer to score, but the Bishops were able to end the inning catching Molosky at second base.
 
After a pitching change by N.C. Wesleyan in the sixth, MU added two more on a double by Lanners to go ahead 7-3, and another run on an RBI single by Power in the bottom of the seventh pushed Methodist ahead, 8-3.  
 
Michael Inman improved to 4-1 on the season, earning today's win after pitching 7.0 innings and allowing three runs on five hits with four strikeouts. Daniel Royer and Tyler Hardee each saw an inning on the mound, and allowed no hits or runs.


Power finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored, while Lanners was 2-for-5 with two RBI and a scored run. Kirby was 2-for-5 with an RBI and run scored and Molosky went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
 
Nick Henry (0-1) took the loss for the Bishops, tossing the first 5.0 innings and giving up five runs on nine hits.
 
DiSanto ended up 2-for-3 with two RBI and Lovett was 1-for-4 with one RBI.
 
The Monarchs will conclude regular season play next weekend as they host LaGrange College, beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday with the first pitch scheduled for 1:00 pm.
 
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