Lenoir-Rhyne And Lincoln Memorial Split Doubleheader In Baseball

HICKORY, NC - The Lenoir-Rhyne College Baseball Team (23-4, 5-2) split a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader with Lincoln Memorial University (16-8, 5-5) Saturday afternoon at Bears Field. 

The Railsplitters took the first game, 5-3, while the Bears rallied to salvage the split with a 2-1 come-from-behind victory in the nightcap.  LMU's win over L-R in the first contest snapped the Bears' 15-game winning streak. 

Game One - Lincoln Memorial 5, Lenoir-Rhyne 3 
Lincoln Memorial's Sergio Baez (Miami, Fla.) hit a two-run home run and Zach Gray (Columbia, Tenn.) took a shutout into the eighth inning as the Railsplitters took the first game of a doubleheader. 

Baez's home run was part of a three-run sixth inning and the Railsplitters jumped out to a 5-0 lead after six and a half innings of play. 

Lenoir-Rhyne tried to rally in the eighth inning with three runs highlighted by junior third baseman Rob Mullin's two-run home run to cut the margin to 5-3 but LMU's Reed Neff (Brentwood, Tenn.) closed out the contest for his third save of the year. 

Gray struck out nine batters and improved to 4-2 on the season while senior Jesse Jordan suffered the loss for L-R.  Jordan (3-2) struck out seven in going the distance. 

Game Two - Lenoir-Rhyne 2, Lincoln Memorial 1
Lenoir-Rhyne scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning, ended by freshman designated hitter Hank Wofford's one-out, game-winning RBI double, as the Bears salvaged the split. 

L-R freshman Justin Crowell upped his mark on the year to 5-0 after limiting the Railsplitters to just one run with four strikeouts in the complete game victory.  

Baez's RBI single in the top of the fourth inning scored the Railsplitters' lone run. 

Crowell out-dueled Casey Sedley (Miami, Fla.), who suffered the loss despite taking a shutout into the seventh inning for LMU.  Sedley fell to 2-2 on the year.

The two teams wrap up the rubber match of the series Sunday at 1 p.m., at Bears Field.