VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- The Methodist baseball team fell to host Virginia Wesleyan, 5-0, on Wednesday afternoon at Marlins Field.
 
With the loss, the Monarchs fall to 6-7 on the season while the Marlins advance to 7-4.
 
Virginia Wesleyan jumped to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fist, scoring on a ground out by Trey Hanchey and an RBI single down the right field line by Brandon Kussmaul. 
 
Methodist's closest chance to score came in the top of the second when the Monarchs loaded the bases with two outs, but the Marlins were able to halt the scoring, forcing Alex Dockery fly out to left field.
 
The Marlins added another run in the bottom of the fourth on a single by Jordan Sprouse before tacking on two more in the fifth. A single by Kussmaul gave VWC a 4-0 advantage and a throwing error by Methodist allowed Randy Neisz to score, finalizing the Marlins' scoring.
 
The Green and Gold utilized multiple pitchers on Wednesday, starting with Seth Beard (0-1) who tossed the first two innings, receiving the loss after allowing two runs on one hit with three strikeouts. Noah Dawson entered for the next inning and allowed one hit with two strikeouts. Greg Johnson saw the mound for two innings and gave up three runs (2 ER) on four hits. Nick Norton, Thomas Dean and Aaron O'Neil all pitched one of the three remaining innings, and together allowed two hits.
 
Tyler Ford (1-0) earned the win for the Marlins, pitching the first four innings, allowing three hits. Nick Bay, Austin Gammon, Nick Ott and Riley Koonce finished out the game for Virginia Wesleyan, and allowed three combined hits.
 
The Monarchs will return to home play on Friday afternoon, hosting a weekend series against Greensboro beginning with a doubleheader with the first pitch scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
 
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