 Baseball |
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February 16, 2008 FAYETTEVILLE, NC- Methodist opened with a 7-5 loss to Lynchburg in day two of the Methodist University Invitational, but came back with an 11-1 win over Frostburg State in the nightcap. The Monarchs move to 5-2 this season while Lynchburg improves to 2-3 and Frostburg State is 0-3. The Monarchs served as the visitors and started things off against Lynchburg with a single from sophomore Brian Halpin. Senior Michael Carter laid down the sacrifice bunt to move Halpin to second and Halpin scored on senior Kyle Eudy's single to left field. Lynchburg responded in the bottom of the first with three runs on two hits. Methodist scored two runs in the second to tie the game at three. Junior Brad Davis reached on an error, but was called out on freshman Tripp Lancaster's fielder's choice. Senior Scott Russell doubled to left center to score Lancaster. Halpin hit an infield single to move Russell to third before Carter singled to left field scoring Russell for the tying run. The Hornets regained the lead in the bottom of the third on a two-out rally. They took a 5-3 lead before adding their sixth run in the bottom of the fifth on a home run by Jon Crews. The Monarchs cut the lead to one in the top of the sixth when Davis and Lancaster both reached on errors. Russell laid down the bunt single to load the bases while Halpin grounded into a double play but Lancaster and Russell were able to score on Carter's ball hit to the third baseman. With Lynchburg leading 6-5 heading into the bottom of the sixth, the Hornets scored an insurance run on Crews' single up the middle. The Monarchs had three more opportunities at the plate, but Lynchburg sealed the 7-5 victory. Senior Chris Toth picked up the loss in two and two thirds innings while Fred Geisinger finished out the game on the mound. In the Monarchs' second game, junior Kenly Locklear got things going for Methodist with solo home runs in the second and fourth innings. The rest of the Methodist offense exploded in the fifth inning with five runs. Russell led off with a single to left center and Halpin walked, moving Russell to second. Both runners advanced on a balk and Carter executed the squeeze perfectly laying down the bunt single to score Russell. Sophomore Seth Kivett reached on a fielder's choice and Locklear walked to load the bases. Junior Mike Twichell walked to score Carter and Davis hit a single over the center fielder's head to score Kivett and Locklear. Davis stole second which allowed Twichell to steal home for the 7-0 lead. Frostburg State got on the board with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning on a string of three hits, but Methodist came back and scored four runs in the top of the seventh on a two-RBI double from Davis, a single from Lancaster to score Davis and a fielder's choice from Halpin scored Lancaster. The Monarchs finished with the 11-1 win. Sophomore Landon Jordan earned the win in five and third innings pitched allowing just one run. Sophomore Josh Andrade pitched two and two thirds while sophomore Alex Sholar finished things off in the ninth inning. The Methodist University Invitational concludes on Sunday with Lynchburg versus Frostburg State at 1 pm and Methodist taking on Lynchburg at 4 pm. Game
1 Box Score Photo courtesy of David Connor II |
