St. Andrews Rallies to Defeat SMC Baseball
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Spartanburg Methodist | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 16 | 1 |
|
St. Andrews (NC) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 10 | 4 |
Laurinburg, N.C. – Eric Cantu came off the bench to halt a comeback attempt by the Spartanburg Methodist College baseball team, delivering a two-out, two-RBI single to lead host St. Andrews to an 11-10 victory on Saturday. Darkness postponed game two of the doubleheader, with the teams tied at 3 in the eighth inning.
SMC erased a 9-5 deficit in the top of the ninth, scoring five runs on four hits and a Knights' error. Earlier in the inning, SMC tied the game at nine on an RBI single by Leo Lopez. The next batter, Matt Smith, hit a ball that was misplayed by the SAU center fielder, allowing Lopez to score from first along with Justin Dawkins.
In the bottom of the ninth, with two outs, the Knights loaded the bases before Cantu delivered the walk-off, two-RBI hit to secure the win.
In the loss, Leo Lopez led the Pioneers with four hits, while Justin Dawkins and Jarian Pinckney added three each. Parker Winfield and Lopez both had two RBIs.
For SAU, Cesar Morillo had two hits and scored three runs from his leadoff spot, Aiden Wilson added two hits, and Garrett Wilson recorded three RBIs for the Knights.
SMC jumped out to a 4-0 lead before SAU responded with three runs in the third, cutting the deficit to 4-3. The Knights took their first lead of the game in the fifth, scoring twice for a 5-4 advantage. They extended their lead to 7-4 with two more runs in the seventh.
Trailing 7-4, SMC got back on the scoreboard with an RBI single by Elijah Franz. However, the Knights answered with two more runs in the bottom half of the inning to make it a 9-5 game.
After the first two batters reached base in the ninth, the Knights recorded a pop-out and a flyout before SMC ignited a late rally. A pinch-hit RBI single by Matthew Cannon, followed by back-to-back RBI hits from Dawkins and Lopez, trimmed the deficit to 9-8. Then, Smith drove in two runs on a misplayed ball by the Knights, putting the Pioneers back in front.
The series will resume on Sunday at 1 p.m. with the two teams continuing game two of the doubleheader. Then, they will play a third game of the weekend series - a nine-inning contest.
