MONTICELLO – The University of Arkansas at Monticello baseball team defeated Jarvis Christian Tuesday afternoon by final scores of 11-5 and 8-0 on a rainy afternoon.
 
In the first game, the Weevils fell behind 5-1 in the first three innings, but used a six-run fifth inning and a four-run seventh inning to record their third win of the season.
 
Junior Brian Johnson started the scoring with an RBI-single to center field in the bottom of the first inning to score junior Rod Williams, who doubled down the left field line just one at-bat earlier.
 
The Weevils did most of their damage in the fifth inning, when the team batted through the entire lineup and scored six earned runs off five hits. Johnson, junior Ariel Mercedes, junior Tyler Henry and sophomore Michael Diffie all recorded run-producing at-bats in the inning.
 
UAM added three more runs in the seventh inning for a more comfortable win.
 
Junior Lawrence McCloud (1-1) recorded his first win of the season after throwing three scoreless innings, only allowing two hits and striking out two of the 10 batters he faced.
 
In the second game, freshman pitcher Craig Pellegrin (2-0) pitched three perfect innings, retiring the last nine batters of the contest to record the win. He recorded three strikeouts in his impressive performance.
 
Offensively, the Weevils started their rally in the bottom of the first inning, scoring four runs off five hits, highlighted by a two-RBI double from junior Matt Gardner, scoring junior Richard Atwood and Johnson, who both reached on singles. Johnson’s single scored Williams, who drew a walk earlier in the inning.
 
UAM scored two more runs in the bottom of the fourth with back-to-back RBI-base hits. Atwood started the rally with an RBI-double to center field, scoring Mercedes, who singled to left field earlier in the inning. Johnson followed with an RBI-single to left field to score Atwood.
 
The Weevils ended the scoring with another pair of runs in the fifth inning, started by junior Matt Whiting’s RBI-single to center field to score Henry, who singled through the right side of the infield to lead off the inning and moved to second base on junior Drew Harper’s hit-by-pitch. Later in the inning, junior Matthew Lewis recorded a line-out sacrifice fly to right field to score Harper.
 
The second game was called at the completion of the top of sixth inning due to darkness.
 
UAM improves to 4-6-1 overall, while Jarvis Christian drops to 1-7.
The Weevils host North Alabama this weekend for a three-game series, starting Saturday, February 21 with a nine-inning affair starting at 12 p.m., followed by a seven-inning game. The two squads are scheduled to conclude the series with a nine-inning game on Sunday starting at 12 p.m.