March 1, 2006
Miscues hurt Monarchs in 9-5 defeat against St. Andrews
Spivey goes 2-for-4 with one RBI scored for Methodist

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – Mistakes in the field came home to roost for the Methodist Monarchs on Wednesday as they dropped a 9-5 contest against neighboring NCAA Division II rival St. Andrews 9-5 at Shelley Field. Methodist falls to 5-4 overall on the season with the defeat.

Methodist was its own worst enemy in the field with six errors, leading to four unearned St. Andrews runs. The visiting Knights jumped out quickly with four runs in the first inning off Monarch starter Casey Varnell. Greg Wrape and Andrew Hoffner both had RBI doubles in the opening inning for St. Andrews.

The Knights increased the lead to 6-0 with two runs in the fourth. Brad Smith scored on a Methodist error, and Will Clark followed with an RBI single.

Methodist finally broke through with a run in the bottom of the fourth and then two runs in the seventh. Michael Carter delivered an RBI single in the seventh and later scored on a wild pitch to cut the Knights’ lead to 6-3. In the eighth inning, the Monarchs cut the deficit to 6-4 when Steve Cornelius was walked with the bases loaded and one out. However, St. Andrews reliever T.J. Chrusch struck out Jason Hughes and got Carter to ground out into a fielder’s choice to ice the rally.

The Knights added three insurance runs in the ninth off Monarch relievers Blake King and Chase Cates. Methodist scored its last run in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Jonathan Spivey.

Spivey went 2-for-4 for Methodist, while Varnell slipped to 1-1 with the defeat. For St. Andrews (6-10), Anthony Mehling went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBIs, while Clark went 3-for-5 with two runs scored. B.J. Horne was the winning pitcher, allowing five hits and three runs in seven innings, while Chrusch recorded the save.

Methodist plays a crucial USA South Athletic Conference series at North Carolina Wesleyan this weekend, starting with a 12 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday.