CARY, N.C. – Hitting and pitching came up clutch for Army West Point Baseball on opening night against the Monmouth Hawks.
A stalemate that saw no runs for four full innings was broken in the bottom of the eighth Friday night, when Coleson Titus scored Braden Golinski on a sacrifice fly after Golinski took third base on a wild pitch earlier in the plate appearance.
Leading 3-2, the Black Knights (1-0) faced danger in the top of the ninth, with the Hawks getting runners on second and third with no outs. But RHP Andrew Berg induced three consecutive outs—including a squeeze bunt attempt leading to a play at the plate—to preserve the lead. Berg took the winning decision Friday night on two innings pitched.
The Black Knights scored two runs in the opening inning, with Derek Berg opening the scoring with an RBI groundout. Two batters later, Golinski crossed the plate on a Titus single E8.
Monmouth tied the contest with a pair of runs in the third inning.
Starting pitcher Matthew Ronnebaum went 6.2 frames in the season opener, striking out four while giving up two runs, one earned.
By the Numbers.
000: Monmouth was 0-for-9 at the plate with two outs.
5: Five Black Knights recorded hits in the matchup, with an additional three reaching base via walk and hit by pitch.
1: RHP Joe Valchar faced one batter in the seventh inning in relief of Ronnebaum, resulting in a strikeout.
Black Knight Notes
Army moves to 5-1 in its most recent season openers.
The Black Knights are now 8-7 all-time against Monmouth.
Next Up
The Black Knights are back in action Saturday at Noon, to face Penn State at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.Army will face Monmouth and Penn State again Sunday, with first pitch times of 10:00 a.m. at 1:30 p.m. in Cary.
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