March 01, 2006

Boxscore

FAYETTEVILLE, NC—Sophomore righty B.J. Horne (Hamlet, NC) pitched an effective seven innings in his first start of the season to lift the St. Andrews baseball team to a 9-5 non-conference victory over Methodist College on Wednesday in Shelley Field.

The Knights, who will go for three straight victories on Thursday when they host local rival UNC Pembroke at 2:00 p.m., improved to 6-10 overall while the Monarchs fell to 5-4.

St. Andrews grabbed the lead for good in the opening frame scoring four runs on five hits. Sophomore Michael Eastwood (Grantsboro, NC) and senior Will Clark (Laurinburg, NC) started the contest with back-to-back singles. Senior Anthony Mehling ( Pottsville, PA) drove in Eastwood with a single to left. Senior Greg Wrape (Hamlet, NC) cleared Clark and Mehling from the bases with a double to left. A sophomore Andrew Hoffner (Ellicott City, MD) double in the right-field gap plated Wrape for the final run of the rally.

The Knights extend their lead to 6-0 with two unearned runs in the fourth. A Clark RBI-single highlighted the inning.

A leadoff triple in the bottom of the fourth lead to Methodists first run. The Monarchs added two more runs in the seventh to trim the deficit to 6-3. A bases loaded walk in the eighth pulled Methodist to within two. However, SAPC sophomore closer T.J. Chrusch ( Fleetwood, PA) entered the game and ended the jam by recording the final two outs of the eighth.

St. Andrews pulled away with a two-out, three-run rally in the ninth. Clark started it with a single and Mehling followed with a double that scored Clark from first. Junior Cliff Allred (Franklinville, NC) added a single that advanced Mehling to third, who then scored on a Methodist error. The Knights loaded the bases with a Wrape walk and a freshman Jason Cargile (Greenville, NC) single. A wild pitch allowed Allred to score from third.

The Monarchs added an unearned run in their final at bat, but fell short of the comeback. Six Methodist errors resulted in four SAPC unearned runs.

Clark and Mehling led the Knights offensively with three hits and two runs scored apiece. Mehling and Wrape each collected two RBI while Eastwood also scored twice.

Horne (1-0) allowed three runs on five hits over seven innings while fanning two Monarchs. Chrusch earned his fourth save of the season by slamming the door shut, tallying four of the final five outs on strikeouts.

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