Baseball Takes Series With Montreat (N.C.) After Game Three Shutout
By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media
WALESKA, Ga. – Baseball was aiming for a sweep on Sunday but had to settle for a doubleheader split as Montreat (N.C.) used the long ball in the opener – a 6-4 win – to tie the series before the No. 23 Eagles turned the tables and blanked the Cavaliers in the rubber match, 6-0.
The hometown team now sits at 16-9 and is still even in Appalachian Athletic Conference play at 6-6.
"Today was a battle, but it was good to win the series," head coach Jonathan Burton said. "We left many opportunities on the bases in game one but did a much better job in game two. There is nothing easy about conference baseball; it brings out an intensity that is hard to explain. We have to do a better job of making the most of our opportunities as it is costing us the results we are striving for."
Game 1, L (6-4)
- The visitors jumped on top immediately in game one after hitting a pair of homers for a 3-0 lead in the top of the first.
- Jackson Sisk got Reinhardt back to within one at 3-2 following a 2-run blast in the bottom of the fifth, but Montreat got the runs right back in the top of the sixth after a solo shot and an RBI single for a 5-2 advantage.
- The Eagles got two more tallies in the seventh on a single and a groundout – but as they did before – the Cavaliers responded in the eighth with another home run to make the score, 6-4.
- Reinhardt had a couple chances late, including the hot-swinging Xavier Arnette in the ninth with a man on base, but flew out to center to end the contest.
- The hosts totaled 10 hits, and Arnette, Albert Mora and Nick Sanders gathered two knocks each.
Game 2, W (6-0)
- The Eagles gathered 13 hits in the victory in the second outing while allowing just three knocks to the opposition after Parker Miller went five innings to get the win after striking out six.
- Dalton Turnbow connected on what would be the game-winning single in the bottom of the first to bring in a run. The biggest at-bat for Reinhardt came in the bottom of the fourth as it got three more tallies compliments of a squeeze bunt and a 2-RBI double from Turnbow.
- Now ahead, 4-0, a Jarrett Burney single and a bases-loaded walk from Xavier Arnette pushed the game out of reach at 6-0 heading to the seventh.
- Blake Rogers, who entered the game in the sixth, finished off the Cavaliers while striking out three.
- Turnbow was 4-for-4 with three RBIs and Nick Sanders added two more hits in the win.
The Tornadoes of Talladega (Ala.) are next in line on Wednesday afternoon in a single non-conference matchup beginning at 3 p.m. at home.
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