FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- The Methodist baseball team swept the USA South series against William Peace with a pair of wins on Sunday afternoon, 8-3, 9-5, at Armstrong-Shelley Field.
 
In the first game, Methodist (14-7, 5-2 USAS) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first on a sacrifice fly to right by Stephen Nalls, scoring Alex Rodriguez who led the inning off with a triple to left center. The Monarchs went ahead, 3-0, in the second when Rodriguez sent a two-RBI single up the middle, scoring Alex Dockery and Tyler Hardee.
 
William Peace (8-16, 1-8 USAS) came within one, 3-2, in the top of the third inning, scoring two runs on an RBI single to left field by Alex Scott and a wild pitch.
 
Over the next three innings, the Monarchs tallied one run in each frame. In the bottom of the third, MU went ahead, 4-2, when Ray Lanners was brought home on a double to left center by Pete Wildeboer, and then 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth when Nalls sent another sacrifice fly to right, plating Colin Ford. In the bottom of the fifth, Lucas Scott was caught stealing to end the inning, but not before Wildeboer could cross the plate to make it 6-2 in Methodist's favor.
 
The Monarchs tacked on two more runs in the home half of the sixth, when Rodriguez singled up the middle to score lead-off batter Ford, and Davis Cass sent a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Rodriguez for the 8-2 lead.
 
The Pacers recorded their last run of the game in the ninth. Brian Willis singled to shortstop to begin the inning, and a double down the right-field line by Easton Payton scored him.
 
Rodriguez finished 3-for-4 with three RBI and two scored runs in game one, and Ford was also 3-for-4 and scored three times. Wildeboer went 3-for-4 with an RBI and run scored and Nalls was 1-for-2 with two RBI.
 
Payton went 3-for-5 with an RBI and Scott was 2-for-5 with an RBI. Hogan finished 2-for-4 with one run scored.
 
Starting pitcher Tyler Hardee earned the win, his third of the year, after tossing the first 7.0 innings and allowing two runs (0 ER) on five hits. Logan Haines pitched 1.0 innings perfectly with one strikeout and Aaron O'Neil closed the final inning out for the Monarchs, giving up one run on two hits.
 
Christian Neal took the loss for the Pacers, pitching the first 6.0 innings and giving up eight runs on nine hits with two strikeouts. Kyle Vincent and Zach Geller each pitched a full inning and together gave up just one run.
 
Unlike game one, WPU was the first to reach the board in the nightcap. In the top of the first, the Pacers grabbed a 1-0 lead on an RBI single by Tyler Klinedinst, scoring Greg Chauvin who reached on an error.
 
The Monarchs quickly reacted in the bottom of the inning, tying things up 1-1with a sacrifice fly by Wildeboer, who plated Rodriguez after he drew a lead-off walk.
 
In the bottom of the third, MU gained a 4-1 advantage. Rodriguez began the inning with a single to right field and a throwing error by WPU's third baseman on Nalls' sacrifice bunt allowed Nalls to reach and advance to second and Rodriguez to score. A sacrifice fly to deep right center gave Nalls the chance to score and a single by Scott scored Wildeboer, who walked.
 
William Peace came within one in the top of the fifth, 4-3, before knotting things up, 4-4, in the sixth with a sacrifice bunt by Chauvin to score Braxton Lamm, who walked two batters prior.
 
A sacrifice bunt by Cass to score Rodriguez in the bottom of the seventh gave the Monarchs the lead once more, but the Pacers were quick to tie things for the last time in the eighth, 5-5, on a sacrifice bunt by Mikey Anerton.
 
The bottom of the eighth was riddled with errors by the Pacers, and the Monarchs jumped ahead, tallying four runs. Wildeboer led the inning off with a single, went to second on an error by WPU's second baseman, and then to third on a fly out by Scott. The next batter, Ford, laid out a bunt a few feet in front of home plate and the Pacers' pitcher, Matt Sgroi, had too much momentum as he flipped the ball over the catcher's head, allowing Ford to get to second and Wildeboer to score as the Monarchs tallied the go-ahead run, 6-5. After a walk by Dockery, pinch-hitter Hardee reached on an error by the short stop and Ford scored, unearned, while Dockery moved to third. Austin Fuentes entered as a pinch runner for Hardee and stole second before Rodriguez grounded out to third base to plate Dockery. Nalls capped the scoring for Methodist with a single to right field, scoring Fuentes for the eventual 9-5 winning score.
 
Methodist's relief pitcher, Seth Beard, didn't give the Pacers a chance to come back in the top of the ninth, striking out all three batters that stepped up to the plate.
 
Beard (2-1) earned the win after his two-run (1 ER), two-hit performance in the final 4.0 innings. He tallied four strikeouts with two walks. Ross Leggett pitched the first 5.0 innings and gave up three runs (2 ER) on six hits with three strikeouts and no walks.
 
Cass was 2-for-2 with two RBI and Ford was 2-for-3 with an RBI and one run scored. Nalls finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and scored run and Rodriguez was 1-for-4 with an RBI and scored three times.
 
Trey Hogan was 2-for-4 with one scored run and Klinedinst was 1-for-4 with two RBI.
 
Sgroi took the loss after tossing the last 1.0 innings and giving up four runs (1 ER) on two hits.
 
Methodist will host Tufts on Wednesday in a single game with first pitch slated for 4:00 pm.
 
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