April 18, 2008
Monarchs take first loss of USA South Tournament to Bishops

BURLINGTON, NC – 11 runs in the first three innings proved too much for the Monarchs of Methodist University, as they fell by a 14-3 final score to the Bishops of NC Wesleyan College on Saturday at the USA South Conference Tournament.

NC Wesleyan’s (27-11-1) Matt Smith led off the first inning with a sharply hit triple to dead center field. He then scored on a wild pitch, giving the Bishops an early 1-0 lead. Travis Beausoleil then drew a walk from Methodist (25-13-1) pitcher Elliot Bisplinghoff, and then stole second base. He moved to third on a grounder, and scored on a sacrifice fly from Justin Batts, bringing the score to 2-0.

The Bishops’ biggest inning of the contest was the five-fun second. Three hits from Jason Webb, Luke Williford and Justin Batts combined with one MU error and a pair of walks allowed five NCWC players to cross the plate, bringing the score to 7-0.

Methodist scored their first run in the bottom of the second after Brad Davis reached on a single to right field. He stole his way over to third base, and then scored on a balk from NC Wesleyan pitcher Jonathan Lucas.

The Bishops added four more runs in the third inning, extending their lead to 11-1, and put the Monarchs on their heels for the rest of the game. NCWC crossed three more runs, and Methodist managed two more, each coming from Davis with a home run in the fourth and a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Batts led the Bishops with three hits on the day and five RBIs. Chris Pecora added two hits for two runs and three RBIs, while Beausoleil added four runs and two RBI with just one hit. Lucas took the win with 5.2 innings pitched and six strikeouts.

Leading the Monarchs was Davis with two hits, two runs and two RBI (including his homer). Kenley Locklear had one hit and one run, and Bisplinghoff took the loss.

Neither team is eliminated from the tournament, as this was a winner’s bracket game. NC Wesleyan advances to the finals however, against the winner of game 11 later today. Methodist moves to play in game 11, against the winner of the Christopher Newport/Ferrum contest.

Box Score