FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The No. 19 Methodist University baseball team split a doubleheader with Piedmont at Armstrong-Shelley Field on Saturday.
 
The Monarchs (31-12) earned a 5-2 win in the first game before the Lions (30-13) responded with an 8-6 win in the second half of the twinbill.
 
In the first game of the day, Piedmont scored first in the fourth inning. Brady Ballstadt walked with one out and moved to second on a wild pitch before Andrew Burden hit a hard liner to second which got through the infield for a 1-0 lead.
 
The Monarchs tied the game in the fifth as Davis Cass singled with one out and advanced to second on a single by Jacob Austin. Cass moved to third on a fly out and Elliot Manley hit a chopper that scored Cass, 1-1. The tie held until the seventh when Austin started off the frame with a swinging bunt single . Manley moved Austin up on a sacrifice bunt and Matthias Carter reached on an infield single, but an errant throw allowed Austin to score from second, 2-1.
 
Piedmont responded with a run in the eighth to tie the game again as Jabin Smith walked on four pitches and came all the way around to score on an RBI single, 2-2. Ethan Carmack led off the home half of the inning with a go-ahead home run to right field to give the Monarchs a 3-2 edge. The Green and Gold added two more insurance runs to assume a 5-2 lead. Alex Kachler was hit by a pitch, which forced a pitching change, and Will May dropped a great bunt down the first-base line to put two runners on. A bloop single by Cass loaded the bases and Austin reached on a fielding error by the short stop that scored Kachler, 4-2. Parker Clayton grounded a base hit up the middle to score May to set the final score of 5-2.
 
Seth Beard (ND) started on the hill for the Monarchs and went 5.0 innings. He yielded one run on five hits with five strikeouts. Thomas Dean threw 3.2 innings of relief and gave up just one run, unearned, as he picked up his third win of the year. Will Walker entered for the final out in the ninth to get his eighth save of the season.
 
For Piedmont, Sam Carpenter went 7.0 innings and allowed four runs (3 ER) on nine hits and struckout five. Matt Vonderschmidt finished the game and yielded one run on three hits in 1.0 inning.
 
Austin, Carmack, Cass and May were all 2 for 4 at the plate with a run scored, while Austin and Carmack added an RBI. For the Lions, Tyler Burdette was 2 for 4 and Ballstadt was 1 for 3 with a run and an RBI for the Lions.
 
In game two, Piedmont scored twice in the first and tallied three more runs in the second to assume and early 5-0 lead. In the bottom of the third, the Monarchs got on the board as Kachler hit a one-out, two-run single over the shortstop to score Manley and Carter, 5-2. The Lions got one run back in the following inning on a sacrifice fly by Justin Groover and added another in the fifth and sixth to go up 8-2.
 
Methodist made things interesting in the late innings as the Monarchs plated two runners in the sixth. May scored on a groundout to cut the lead to five runs (8-3) before Clayton singled in Criswell, 8-4. The score held until the bottom of the ninth when Manley and Carter reached base with no outs to force a pitching change. A fielding error on a ground ball to second allowed Manley to score from second and put runners on the corners. Kachler struck an RBI single through the left side of the infield to set the score at 8-6, still with no outs. However, the rally fell short as the Piedmont closer struck out two of the next three batters to end the game.
 
Tristen Luck (6-4) started on the mound, but only went 2.1 innings as he allowed five runs on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Logan Haines, Nathan Cockman and Josh Robledo each took the hill for the Monarchs.
 
David Craft (6-1) tossed 5.2 innings of work in the start as he scattered 10 hits, gave up four runs and struck out three. Buddy Green came in for the ninth inning and picked up his 11th save of the year after inheriting two runners to start his outing.
 
Manley was 3 for 4 at the dish with two runs scored, while Kachler had two hits and three RBI to bring his season total to 58. He now has eight games this season with at least three RBI. Carter and Clayton each had a pair of hits, while Carter scored twice.  For the Lions, three players had multi-hit performances.
 
Methodist and Piedmont close out their regular seasons in the decisive third game of the series tomorrow, April 29, at Armstrong-Shelley Field with first pitch scheduled for 1 pm. The game also serves as Senior Day for the Monarchs.