The pendulum swung back this week as Montreat College's baseball team lost three of four contests after sweeping a weekend series in late February.  The 1-3 week left Coach Michael Bender's Cavaliers with a 4-6 record and some disappointment after dropping one-run decisions in their last two games.

On Tuesday, February 23, Montreat took a very short road trip and faced local rival Mars Hill College.  The Cavs built a tenuous 3-0 lead behind good pitching and Adam Speas' offense as the senior had an RBI double and two hits total.  But the Lions erupted over the final three innings to record a 7-3 win as Steven Hoyle took the loss.

The final weekend of February saw Southern Virginia University visit Montreat for two games on Saturday, February 27.  Two evenly-matched teams settled for a 1-1 record in two games decided by one run each.  Montreat won the opener 3-2 as Jonathan Madera pitched five strong innings, allowing both Knights runs, before Brian Greene relieved Madera and picked up the win with two shutout frames.  Speas and Hoyle generated the offense as they combined to go 5-7 from the plate with 3 RBI.

Game 2 came down to a successful suicide squeeze bunt which the Knights executed to score the final run in a 4-3 win.  The unlucky loser of the game was pitcher Seth Blevins.  Adam Speas continued to wield a hot bat, collecting three more hits and another RBI.

Bender recognized highlights despite the tough loss, noting that sophomore pitcher David Flanagan returned from Tommy John surgery and pitched well despite taking the loss, and that Speas raised his Appalachian Athletic Conference-leading batting average to .600 with his 5-hit day. 

On Monday, March 1, Montreat endured another close defeat when they traveled to Greensboro to face Guilford College.  Despite Cameron Duckworth's first home run as a Cavalier, a two-run shot, and even though the Quakers couldn't keep Dustin Bartlett off the base paths as he collected two hits and two walks, Guilford held on for a 5-4 win behind Will Cornelius' two homers, the second of which provided the winning margin.

Bender's team heads to eastern Tennessee this weekend to play their first AAC games of the season as they face Milligan College twice on Saturday, March 6 and once more on Sunday.  The first pitch of Saturday's doubleheader is 1:00.