FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - The baseball team found its first nice weather of the new year in their season opener but trouble fielding around the diamond left them being swept 14-0 and 3-0 in the doubleheader against Methodist on Friday afternoon.
 

Inside the Box Score

Keegan Brennan (Lake Wynonah, Pa./Nativity BVM) had the most profitable day for the Blazers going 2-for-3 and drawing three walks.

Joe Monteleone's (Haddon Heights, N.J./Haddon Heights) first hit of the season was a double in game one.

Jonathan Tydall had two hits in the second game.
 

On the Mound

Skylar Albright (Hendersonville, N.C./Hendersonville) went five strong in game two allowing four hits and striking out three in an outing without a walk.

Finn Scott-Daniels (Annandale, Va./Annandale) gave up one earned run in three innings of work.

Methodist 14, Hood 0

Under the circumstances, you would think this could be a pitching issue. But only four of the 14 runs scored were earned on the day.

The Blazers had first bat in the game and Brennan served a ball to center lead off in the young season. He then advanced on a passed ball to enter scoring position but was left stranded.

Finn Scott-Daniels (Annandale, Va./Annandale) got the opening nod and had a clean bottom half of the inning before hitting the leadoff batter in the second. Two batters went down the way of the K before a walk put two runners on with two outs. A ground ball taken by Blaine Smith (Hume, Va./Fauquier) would end the threat.

The bottom of the third would mark the beginning of the error bug for the Blazers. An infield single by Methodist's Rinzel and a stolen base would be followed by a passed ball and another stolen base to put runners on second and third. A pair of wild pitches would score both runners and a 2-0 hole would be created. 

Salisbury would relieve Scott-Daniels and have a clean fourth inning. Some traffic on the bases would be moved with singles and the deficit would double and then triple.

Two more runs would score in the sixth but the work of Tyler Knill (Frederick/Frederick) would have two down in the inning. Another fielding error would cause a downpour that Hood could not overcome.

Methodist 3, Hood 0

Albright would be on the bump to start game two. A ambush of a bunt would earn a single to start Methodist followed by a walk. Runners would be moved over via sacrifice and the next batter would have his chance at hero denied via strikeout. 

Albright forced a groundball to third but a bad ball over would score two. The following batter would clean the bases with the third run of the inning but the last run of the game.

LEss action was good, a cleaning baseball game overall evened the playing field against a modest Lions' club.

Offensive life for the Blazers would happen in the sixth where Brennan drew a walk to start and a hit by pitch by Jack Patterson (Boyds, Md./Northwest) would put two on and only one down. Baur of the Lions would get two Blazers to fly out to end the threat.

Up next

The squad will finish their opening series against Methodist tomorrow with an 11 a.m. start time. With heavy rain in the forecast, check back on our website or X handle @hoodblazers for updates.