Royals Roll Past Montreat in Series Opener

KNOXVILLE, TN— The Royals opened their AAC weekend series in dominant fashion Friday afternoon, shutting out Montreat 13–0 behind a complete team performance on both sides of the ball.

Johnson wasted no time setting the tone, scoring twice in the first inning. Izaak Fernandez got things started with an RBI double to left-center, and the Royals added another run on a defensive miscue to take an early 2–0 lead.

The Royals continued to build momentum in the second inning. A wild pitch brought home a run before Travis Hobbensiefken delivered a two-run single to extend the lead to 5–0.

Johnson broke the game wide open in the fourth inning with a seven-run explosion. The inning featured RBI contributions from JJ Menesini, Hobbensiefken, Braden Frank, and Christian Altamirano, along with productive situational at-bats and aggressive baserunning that pushed the lead to 12–0.

The Royals added one more run in the sixth on an RBI single from Joseph Brown to cap the scoring at 13–0.

On the mound, Colby Reynolds delivered another dominant outing, tossing six shutout innings while allowing just three hits and striking out five. Matt Newton made his return to the mound in relief, tossing a scoreless inning to close out the win.

Offensively, Johnson totaled 14 hits and saw production throughout the lineup. Hobbensiefken led the way with three RBIs, while Fernandez collected three hits and an RBI. Edwin Olmeda Jr. added two hits and scored twice, and multiple Royals contributed to the balanced attack.

Following the game, head coach Dave Serrano praised the team's complete performance and focus as the stakes continue to rise.

"Well, I'm proud of our guys. Every game from here on out is very big, and we can't look past anyone. Montreat's had a good year, but we came out and played almost perfect baseball today. Colby set the tone with pounding the strike zone early on, and we played really good offense. We were able to get a lot of guys in the game, and that's always a good thing for me as the coach."

Serrano also emphasized the importance of maintaining focus moving forward while highlighting key moments surrounding the program.

"My message to them after the game was we can't get bored with success, and we've got to continue to keep our focus… Tomorrow is a really special day. It's our senior day and alumni day, and we're going to have a lot of former Royals back. Hopefully we can set the tone by the way we play."

With the win, the Royals take a 1–0 lead in the series and will look to carry that momentum into Saturday's doubleheader, which will also feature Senior Day and Alumni Day at the ballpark.