DEMOREST, Ga. -- The No. 1 seed Rhodes College baseball team extended its win streak to nine with a 7-4 victory over sixth-seeded Methodist on Wednesday morning in the first round of NCAA Regionals at Loudermilk Field.
 
With the loss, the Monarchs are 32-9 on the season while the Lynx improve to 33-11.
 
Down 3-0 in the top of the fifth, Methodist loaded the bases with singles by Steven Kirby and Ray Lanners, and a walk drawn by Matt Jack. Pete Wildeboer scored Kirby on a fielder's choice and the Monarchs cut the deficit to two runs, 3-1.
 
After the Lynx tacked on another run in the home half of the fifth, Methodist responded with two runs in the sixth, bringing the score to 4-3 in Rhodes' favor. Back-to-back singles by Cody Molosky and Chris Power put the Monarchs in scoring position and a sacrifice bunt by Alex Rodriguez advanced the two runners. An RBI base knock by Kirby scored Molosky, and a sacrifice fly by Lanners plated Power for a one-run game.
 
Rhodes extended its lead by two more runs (6-3) in the bottom of the sixth and with another run in the eighth to gain a 7-3 advantage.  
 
The Green and Gold had a chance to rally, loading the bases on walks by Stephen Nalls and Rodriguez and a double to left field by Power, but were only able to score one on a walk drawn by Kirby with two outs to bring the final score to 7-4.
 
Daniel Morris (10-0) earned the win on the hill, working through 5.1 innings. He allowed three earned runs and struck out three.
 
Josh Howard (8-2) was handed his second loss of the year, tossing 5.2 innings and allowing six runs (4 ER) with four strikeouts and two walks.
 
Power led the Monarchs, going 4-for-5 with a run scored while Kirby finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and crossed the plate once. Both Lanners and Molosky went 2-for-4, recording an RBI and a scored run, respectively.
 
The Monarchs will compete against the loser of the game between the No. 2 seed Pacific Lutheran and the No. 5 seed Emory on Thursday at 12:00 pm.
 
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