Baseball | 3/25/2016 8:28:00 PM
Box Score ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. – The Methodist baseball team picked up a 9-2 win over host N.C. Wesleyan on Friday afternoon and was trailing the Battlin' Bishops, 9-7, after coming back from an eight-run deficit in the middle of the seventh before the game was suspended due to lack of sunlight.
N.C. Wesleyan (18-8, 9-4 USAS) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Trey Croom reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Justin DiSanto, and Tony Sanchez doubled to right field to plate Croom.
The Monarchs (18-8, 9-4 USAS) took the lead, 3-0, in the second and never looked back.
Davis Cass led off with a single to left center and an error by the Bishops' catcher allowed him to advance to third before
Pete Wildeboer scored him on a ground out to short stop.
Tyler Hardee singled to the pitcher and
Colin Ford drew a walk before
Lucas Scott loaded the bases with a single to right field.
Alex Dockery scored Hardee with a sacrifice fly to center field and two batters later,
Stephen Nalls singled to third to score Ford.
A three-RBI double down the right-field line by Nalls pushed the Monarchs ahead, 6-2, and a single to right by
Ray Lanners brought Nalls home for a 7-2 Methodist advantage.
Methodist tallied its last runs of the game in the top of the eighth thanks to an error by NCWC's center fielder. With
Alex Rodriguez at second and Nalls at first, Cass singled to center, advancing the runners, and the error allowed both to score for the eventual winning score of 9-2.
Nalls finished 2-for-3 with four RBI and two runs scored and Rodriguez was 3-for-4 and scored twice. Hardee was 2-for-5 with two scored runs and Cass went 2-for-5 with an RBI and run scored.
Travis Johnson (4-1) earned the win, pitching the first 6.0 innings and allowing two runs on 10 hits with four strikeouts.
Madison Cook earned his first save of the year after tossing the final 3.0 innings and allowing no runs on five hits with three strikeouts. Both pitchers did not walk a single batter.
DiSanto was 3-for-5 with a scored run and Croom finished 2-for-5 with an RBI and scored run.
The Bishops' starting pitcher, Ryan Grant (5-2), took the loss after pitching the first 5.2 innings and giving up six runs (3 ER) on seven hits with three strikeouts.
In game two, MU was the first to get on the board in the top of the first with an RBI single by Nalls before N.C. Wesleyan exploded for seven runs on six hits to go ahead, 7-1.
The Bishops tacked on two more insurance runs and gained a 9-1 advantage in the third, scoring on a two-RBI single up the middle by Ciro Norzagary.
Methodist began its comeback in the top of the fifth, scoring three runs on five hits. With one out, Ford doubled to left center and after a pop up by
Brennan Brown, Dockery singled through the right side to score Ford to make it 9-2 in NCWC's favor. A single by
Will May pushed Dockery to third and a double to left center by
Nick Zieniuk scored both runners to bring the score to 9-4.
After an inning of scoreless play, the Monarchs cut the deficit to two, 9-7, in the top of the seventh, scoring another three runs. A lead-off single by Dockery and a walk drawn by May put runners in scoring position and a ground out by Zieniuk advanced them a base. A wild pitch allowed Dockery to score, and
Austin Fuentes, who pinch-ran for May, moved to third. After a Bishop pitching change, Rodriguez singled through the right side to score Fuentes and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Cass tripled to right field to score Rodriguez and tally the last run of the day for either team.
Game two will resume on Saturday at noon before the two teams complete the series with a single game beginning at 1:00 pm.
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