THE BASICS:
 
- Records: MIT (0-2); Methodist University (6-0)
 
- Scores: Game One: Methodist University 9, MIT 2; Game Two: Methodist University 11, MIT 8
 
- Location: Fayetteville, N.C. (Armstrong-Shelley Field)
 
- The Lead: In a season-opening doubleheader on Friday evening, the MIT baseball dropped a pair of games to Methodist University at Armstrong-Shelley Field. The Engineers fell in game one by a 9-2 margin, along with an 11-8 game in the nightcap.
 
GAME ONE
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
- The Monarchs got on the board in the bottom of the first as Jackson Deal was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and was sacrificed over to second. Deal eventually came around on a sacrifice fly to right by Wesley Hall as Rob Wilkerson was called out on the play for the third out as the umpires ruled that he left early.
 
- MIT evened things up in the top of the second as senior Jake Sonandres (Torrance, Calif.) got the inning started with a single to right and eventually scored on a one-out single to right by junior Tyler Godfrey (Rowley, Mass.). Methodist struck for three unearned runs in the bottom of the third as they put together three hits and took advantage of a pair of MIT errors in the inning. The key hit for the Monarchs came off the bat of Wheeler as his two-RBI double scored Hall and Wilkerson.
 
- First-year Zev Moore (Jerusalem, Israel) cut the lead down to 4-2 with one out in the fifth as he launched a deep homer to left field. MIT threatened in the top of the sixth too as Sonandres doubled down the left field line with one out before being stranded on second.
 
- The Monarchs added four runs in the bottom of the seventh and one more in the eighth to secure the 9-2 victory in game one.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 
- Sophomore Brian Rapanan (Gurnee, Ill.) took the loss for the Engineers on the mound as he allowed four runs (only one earned) on six hits with three strikeouts over 4.2 innings of play to fall to 0-1. William St. Leger went six innings for the Monarchs to earn the victory as he scattered seven hits with two earned runs and five strikeouts to improve to 2-0 on the mound.
 
- Sonandres led MIT with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate, including two doubles, to go along with a pair of hits from Moore in his collegiate debut. Four Monarchs finished with multiple hits, led by three each from Wilkerson and Hall.
 
GAME TWO
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
- The Monarchs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning of game two as Deal and Jacob Austin both scored. MIT quickly answered in the top of the second as first-years Owen Malone (Portsmouth, R.I.) and Eitan Moore (Jerusalem, Israel) each posted RBI hits, including a double from Malone as he also scored later in the inning.
 
- Methodist put together a nine-run, six-hit second inning to seize control as the hosts led 11-2 heading to the third. The game stayed that way until the top of the fifth when the Engineers scored six runs on seven hits and got back to within 11-8. A two-run homer from sophomore Reed Tubbs (Pflugerville, Texas) started the scoring, along with a two-RBI single from senior Kyle Sonandres (Torrance, Calif.) and RBIs from Malone and first-year Lawrence Tang (Hopkinton, Mass.).
 
- The game remained that way until the end as Chase Carroll pitched the seventh inning to secure the 11-8 victory for Methodist.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 
- The Engineers had 11 hits in game two with two each from Moore, Malone and junior Phillip Hood (Grapevine, Texas). Senior Graham Cartwright (La Jolla, Calif.) took the loss for MIT as he lasted 1.1 innings and fell to 0-1 on the year. Andrew Baur improved to 2-0 with 4.1 innings pitched, along with the second save of the season by Carroll.
 
UP NEXT:
 
- MIT is back in action at the Methodist Baseball Invitational on Sunday, February 26th as the Engineers take on DeSales University in a 10 a.m. start.
 
STAY CONNECTED:
 
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