KINGSPORT, TN (May 4, 2009) - After losing a tough battled game against Milligan College on Saturday, the Montreat College baseball team found themselves in the loser's bracket on Monday.  The #5 Cavs faced #8 Covenant College in the second round of the AAC Baseball Tournament.  The Cavs swept the Scot earlier this season in their three game series.  Covenant lost to #8 Tennessee Wesleyan on Saturday in the opening round.

Montreat would get out to a great start in the top of the first with the first of four hits by leadoff batter Lucas Martin.  A Justin Cockrell's fielder's choice would force Martin out at second.  Ryan Bostian would come in to pinch run for Cockrell.  Senior Jesse Wise would advance Bostian to second on his single to third base.  Junior Steven Hoyle reached first and loaded the bases when he was hit by a pitch.  Junior Josh Ashton would also be hit by a pitch that scored Bostian and put Montreat up 1-0. Cam Duckworth lined out to third for the Cavs second out of the inning.  Ashton would be thrown out on Daniel Benner's fielder's choice and would end the inning.

Cavalier junior Seth Blevins started at the mound for Montreat College.  The Cavs defense made easy with the Covenant's offense in the first three innings, as Blevins gave up no runs and no hits through three innings of play.

J.J. Estevez started the second inning for the Cavs when he reached first on a wild throw by Oldham, but would be picked off at first base.  Junior Dustin Bartlett and Martin would both hit ground outs to end the inning.

With two outs in the top of the third, junior Steven Hoyle singled through the hole at second base and would account for the Cav's lone hit in the third.  Daniel Benner would hit a single to center field in the fourth inning for Montreat's only hit of the inning.

Thomas O'Ban hit the Scots first hit of the game with his single up the middle.  O'Ban would steal second and would later advance to third on Sam Hogan's out to center field.  Oldham's single to left would score O'Ban and tie the game at 1-1.  With two outs and runners on second and third, Blevins got out of the inning with Parker Cline's ground out.

Cavalier Lucas Martin got his second hit of the game in the top of the fifth with a single to left.  A wild pitch by Chris Greer would advance Martin to second. Greer would then walk Cockrell.  Wise's sacrifice bunt would advance Martin and Cockrell and give the Cavs their first out of the inning.  Hoyle's sacrifice fly to left would score Martin and give the Cavs a 2-1 lead. Ashton's out to left field would end the inning.

Covenant's Harrison Fisher had the lone hit for the Scots in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Montreat's J.J. Estevez got the sixth inning going for the Cavs with his double to left field.  Estevez would score on Dustin Bartlett's single to left field.  Martin continued his great play with his third hit of the game to advance Bartlett to second base.  Cockrell would then score Bartlett with a shot to center field.  Wise would end the inning, but not before Montreat scored two runs to stretch their lead to 4-1.

With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Oldham singled to center field and would advance to second and third on stolen bases.  A wild pitch by Blevins would score Oldham and close the lead 4-2.  Jared Carlson would get a hit, but the Cavs would end the inning giving up one run off of two hits and keep a 4-2 lead.  With runners on first and third, junior Adam Speas would ground out to second to end the inning.

Covenant's offense went three up and three down in the seventh, while Montreat followed in the top of the eighth.  Wesley McDowell came in the game for the Scots to relieve Greer.  With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Blevins recorded his sixth strike out of the game to end the inning. 

In the top of the ninth, Covenant sent to the mound Chris Henegar to relieve McDowell. In the leadoff position, Wise hit his second hit of the game to spark the ninth inning.  Hoyle's single to right field would send Wise to third base.  Ashton's single past second base would score Wise and give Montreat a 5-2 advantage.  With one out, Daniel Benner reach first on an intentional walk by Henegar to load the bases.  Estevez would reach first on a bobble by second baseman Jason Pope and would earn an RBI with Bostian's crossing home.  Henegar would next walk Bartlett which scored Ashton and gave Montreat a 7-2 lead.  Martin's fourth hit of the game which was a double to right field would score Benner and Estevez and give Montreat a 9-2 lead.  Cockrell would keep things going with a fielder's choice to load the bases.  Hoyle would end the inning with a fielder's choice that would force Cockrell out at second.  Montreat's offense scored five runs off of four hits and left three on base in the ninth inning and held a commanding 9-2 lead going into the bottom of the inning.

Carlson kept the Scots alive in the bottom of the ninth with a double to right field. Hagopian came in to pinch run for Carlson and advanced to third on Duckett's ground out. Pope's single to short scored Hagopian.  A wild pitch by Blevins advanced Pop to second.  A Whitehead single up the middle would score Pope and cut the lead 9-4. A line out to short by Fisher would end the inning and the game.

For Montreat, Lucas Martin led the Cavs going 4-for-6 with one run and two RBI's.  Jesse Wise, Steven Hoyle, and Daniel Benner each had two hits. With one hit apiece and rounding out Montreat's 14 hits was J.J. Estevez, Justin Cockrell, Josh Ashton, and Dustin Bartlett.  Martin, Ashton, and Bartlett each batted in two runs apiece for the Cavs.

On the mound for the Cavs, Seth Blevins through a complete game only allowing four runs off of nine hits and struck out six batters. Blevins improves to 6-3 on the year. 

With the win, Montreat advances to Tuesday where they will face the loser of the Tennessee Wesleyan and Milligan game which will be played Monday night at 5:00 p.m. The Montreat versus TW/Milligan loser will be played on Tuesday morning at 10:00 am. If Montreat wins the 10:00 game, the Cavs will advance to play the winner of the Monday night game at 5:00 pm on Tuesday evening.  For a complete bracket please click here.