FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The No. 17 Methodist University Baseball Team (2-0) took a pair of games from Emory & Henry (0-8) Saturday afternoon at Armstrong-Shelley Field. The Monarchs won by scores of 14-5 and 9-0. The doubleheader was scheduled as a pair of seven-inning games. The Monarchs are ranked in the Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division III preseason poll.
Game One – No. 17 Methodist 14, Emory & Henry 5
Methodist got out of the gate with three runs in the second inning. In the third, the Monarchs added four runs to make the score 7-0. Ray Lanners accounted for two runs with a home run to right field. Another pair of runs in the fourth and five in the fifth gave MU a 14-0 advantage. Lanners added a two-run double while Alex Rodriguez cleared the bases with a three-run shot.
Emory & Henry avoided the shutout by scoring five runs in the top of the seventh. The Wasps got on the board when sophomore centerfielder Josh Macek (Concord, N.C.) drew a bases-loaded walk. Sophomore first baseman Carson Bryant (Hickory, N.C.) highlighted the inning with a double to left-center which drove in two. Senior right fielder Brandon Lineberry (Hillsville, Va.) and freshman third baseman Eli Straw (Radford, Va.) each had RBI hits in the inning.
Lanners led the way offensively for Methodist with three hits, three runs and four RBI. Lucas Scott had two hits and two RBI while David Cass scored twice on two hits. Travis Johnson earned the win, scattering three hits and two walks over five innings of scoreless ball.
Bryant, Linberry and Straw had two base knocks for the Wasps while Bryant drove in a pair. Senior left-hander Aaron Sparks (Troutman, N.C.) suffered the loss, going just three innings.
Game Two – No. 17 Methodist 9, Emory & Henry 0
The Monarchs got out to a 4-0 lead with two runs in both the second and third frames. Two more runs in the fifth made the score 6-0 and a two-run single by Rodriguez in the sixth pushed the lead to 8-0. He would come around to score later in the inning on an error.
Rodriguez went four-for-four with two runs and four RBI while Cass and Colin Ford each had two hits. Tyler Hardee picked up the win, scattering three hits and two strikeouts over five innings of work.
Emory & Henry managed just four hits in the game, one each coming from Macek, Bryant, Straw and freshman left fielder Ben Sexton (Lebanon, Va.). Junior Garrett Butler (Knoxville, Tenn.) took the loss.
E&H will look to get its first win of the year on Sunday when it faces off against Methodist in a nine-inning game. First pitch between the Wasps and Monarchs is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
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