WINCHESTER, Va.- The Shenandoah University baseball team fell just short in its bid to knock off nationally ranked Methodist College on Saturday afternoon as the No. 2 in the nation Monarchs came back for a 9-7 victory. 

Shenandoah (7-16-1, 2-7) jumped on top in the second inning when both Tyler Daniel (Richmond, Va./J.R. Tucker)and Dusty Crostic (Chesterfield, Va./L.C. Bird) got on base with walks. Two outs later, freshman Mike Christoforo (Arlington, Mass./Arlington) hit his second three-run home run to give a 3-0 lead. Christoforo had won Wednesday's extra inning contest over Christopher Newport with a walkoff three-run homer in the 11th inning.

Unfortunately, Methodist (21-8, 5-4) capitalized on four Shenandoah errors in the fourth to take a commanding 7-3 lead. The Monarchs managed only one hit in the inning, but managed to piece together the seven runs around four walks and the errors.

SU made a valiant effort to catch the Monarchs in the sixth and ninth innings with two runs in each on seven hits, but Methodist's two extra runs on three hits in the ninth gave them the final margin of victory.

The Hornets had nine hits in the loss, including three by Christoforo and two by Daniels.

A complete box score and play by play for this game can be found on the SU web site at http://www.su.edu/athletics/bb/2003/040503.htm.

Shenandoah will complete the series with Methodist Sunday afternoon at 1:00.