FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- The Methodist baseball team swept a doubleheader and tallied 26 total runs as it opened the season against Lynchburg at Armstrong-Shelley Field on Saturday.
 
In the first game of the evening, the Monarchs (2-0) started off the fourth inning with a single by Lucas Scott before advancing to second after a walk from Will May. Davis Cass laid down a sacrifice bunt that moved both runners over and Tyler Hardee loaded the bases after drawing a walk. Ethan Carmack put the first runs on the board with a two-run single to right field to give MU a 2-0 lead.
 
The Hornets (0-2) tied the score in the top of the fifth after an RBI single by Griffin Wild and a sacrifice bunt on a squeeze play by Ryan Katona, 2-2. Methodist responded with a lead-off triple by Brennen Brown who eventually scored on an RBI single by Pete Wildeboer to take a 3-2 lead.
 
In the seventh inning, Thomas Powell put LC back in the lead with a two-run single, 4-2. The Hornets held on to the two-run lead until the ninth inning when Brown rounded the bases after reaching with a lead-off single to send the game to extra innings.
 
The Hornets took a 5-4 lead after a fielder's choice led to Will Hylton crossing the plate in the 11th. In the bottom half of the inning, Clay Richardson reached base on an error before advancing to second on a base hit by Brown. With two men on base, Mathias Carter reached on an error that allowed Richardson to round the bases to tie the score, 5-5. After an intentional walk to load the bases, Scott drew a base-on-balls to win the game in walk-off fashion, 6-5.
 
Nick Norton (1-0) earned the win after tossing 4.0 innings and allowing one run on two hits with four strikeouts. Seth Beard (ND) started the game for MU and allowed two runs on two hits with five strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work. Cody Martin (0-1) was saddled with the loss after yielding three runs on one hit with a hit batter and a walk.
 
Brown went 3 for 5 at the plate and scored three runs, while Wildeboer and Carmack each recorded two RBI.
 
In the second half of the twin bill, the Monarchs scored in all but two innings, including eight runs in the first three innings and plating eight runs in the seventh inning, as they pulled away with a 20-0 victory. Methodist recorded 17 hits as it batted around the order three times.
 
Tyler Hardee (1-0) received the win after giving up no runs and just one hit with seven strikeouts in 5.0 innings of work. Zack Engelmann (0-1) took the loss after scattering five hits and yielding six runs  with four walks in 2.0 innings on the mound.
 
Wildeboer and Cass each collected three hits, while Cass also posted three RBI and scored four times. First baseman Alex Kachler went 2 for 3 with an RBI, three runs scored and four walks. Ten batters registered a hit with five players posting multi-hit games.
 
The Monarchs return to action on Feb. 10, as they begin play in the Piedmont Invitational against Birmingham Southern with first pitch scheduled for 3 pm.
 
 
 
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