The Redlegs opened up the 2018 season with a double- header sweep of the Wright Knights, taking game 1 5-4 and game 2 13-8.

Aaron Carmack made his second consecutive opening day start and was strong right out of the gate as he blanked the Knights and allowed only five baserunners through the first four innings. He also punched out eight Knight hitters in the effort.

Mike Hartman had a hand in keeping the Knights off the board, robbing Jerel Bristol of an infield hit in the 3rd. Bristol hit a slow roller down the first base line and was off to the races, but Hartman charged, barehanded, and delivered a strike to first to nail the speedy Knights leadoff man.

The Knights starter, Richard Navratil, got off to a strong start himself before the Redlegs struck first in the bottom of the 4th.

Matt Mattice started the inning with a base hit, followed by a single from Kyle Arend and an RBI single from Mike Hartman. Joey Watson then drove a run in with a base hit. Later, with one out and a man on third, James Robinson scored a run with a ground ball out to the right side of the infield.

The Knights answered immediately, finally breaking through on Carmack, in the top of the 5th as they plated four runs of their own to take a 4-3 lead.

Matt Morrison then manufactured a run in the bottom half of the 5th when he knocked a one out single, stole 2nd, then moved to third and scored on a pair of passed balls.

Matt Redman entered the tied game in the top of the 6th and was greeted by back-to-back singles to start the frame. Redman was then able to induce a ground ball to short that resulted in a 6-4-3 double play from Morrison and Howard, but moved the go-ahead run to third with two outs. Redman struck out the next batter to end the threat.

Kyle Arend started the bottom of the 6th with a laser that short hopped the center field fence and resulted in him standing at 2nd base and a leadoff double. Hartman then singled to put runners on the corners before Joey Watson brought Arend home with a sacrifice fly to right field.

After a quiet out to start the 7th, Alec Hutzelman drove a hard line drive to center field that looked like it might be extra bases. But Kyle Arend made a nice catch, back pedaling in deep center field to bring the Redlegs within one out of sealing the opening day win. The Knights stayed alive with a two out single by Garrett Copas. Jeremy Bristol then hit a grounder to second base that popped off the glove of Brandon Howard. Howard was able to collect it quickly enough and deliver the throw to first just in time to beat a diving Bristol and end the game.

Boxscore