Union falls short to Montreat in first game of conference series
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Union (KY) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 1 |
|
Montreat (NC) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | X | 9 | 13 | 2 |
Marion, N.C. - On Friday, the Union Commonwealth University baseball team played at Montreat in its first matchup of a three-game conference series.
The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the third when Montreat took a 3-0 lead. Union's Mason Kelley kickstarted the action in the bottom of the fourth by hitting a single with one out before capitalizing on a throwing error to advance to second base.
Nathan McCabe followed by reaching base and advancing to second on an error. Luke Pell then delivered an RBI single, which scored Kelley and advanced McCabe to third base.
The momentum continued as Tyler Bean drove in McCabe with an RBI double that advanced Pell to third. Logan Romasanta connected on a two-RBI single that propelled Union into a 4-3 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth, Montreat tallied four runs to surge ahead 7-4. Union fought back in the top of the fifth as Colton Stegman tallied a single and then stole second base.
Kelley joined the action with another single, which advanced Stegman to third. McCabe then came through with an RBI single that narrowed the gap as Stegman crossed the plate.
Following a line out, Bean kept the rally alive with his own RBI single, which scored Kelley to trim the deficit to one run.
In the bottom of the seventh, Montreat managed to extend its lead to 8-6. Pell started the top of the eighth with a solo home run to put the deficit back to one. Montreat answered in the bottom of the inning by scoring one run to extend its lead to 9-7.
The Bulldogs were unable to score in the final inning as Union fell short to Montreat 9-7 in nine innings. Ethan Warren, Christian McCollough, and Grayson Makranyi made an appearance on the mound. Warren and McCollough each collected three strikeouts.
Offensively, Kelley went three-for-five with two runs scored. Pell and Bean each went two-for-four and had two RBIs. Pell also scored two runs.
The Bulldogs are now 17-19 (10-12 AAC) this season, while Montreat is 21-19-1 (11-10 AAC). Up next for Union is the remainder of this conference series against Montreat.
The second game of the series is slated for Saturday, April 13, at 12:00 p.m., while the final matchup is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.