Railsplitters Split Wednesday Double-Header With Cougars

HARROGATE, TN – The Lincoln Memorial University baseball team split a double-header with Caldwell College on Wednesday afternoon, winning the first game 16-6 while dropping game two 6-4.

The Railsplitters entered their second game with Caldwell since Sunday afternoon looking to avenge the 15-2 loss they suffered at the hands of the Cougars during the weekend.  Avenge the loss is exactly what the Railsplitters did.  LMU came out on fire and pounded out 13 hits in the opening game of the afternoon.  Eventually Lincoln Memorial posted a 16-6 win to spit their record with Caldwell for the week at 1-1.

Sergio Baez (3) (Miami, FL) and Bryon Izzo (3) (Miramar, FL) both went out of the yard while Tommy Casto (Dearfield Beach, FL), Mike Richardson (Murfreesboro, TN), Baez and Lee Philson (Clinton, SC) all had doubles in the game.  LMU’s Reed Neff (Brentwood, TN) improved to 2-1 on the year with the win.  Neff pitched the first four innings, giving up seven hits and no runs with four strikeouts.

In game two the Railsplitters fell behind 2-0 in the top of the first, but tied the game in the bottom of the inning.  The Cougars remained silent until the top of the third when they put three runs across the plate to take a 5-2 lead.  The margin proved to be more then LMU could recover from despite solo home runs in the bottom of the fourth and the bottom of the sixth by Sergio Baez and reigning South Atlantic Conference Player of the Week TeWayne Willis (Hazard, KY). 

LMU pitcher Curtis Wills (3-1) (Folsom, CA) suffered his first loss of the season.  Wills got the start but lasted only two innings, giving up four hits, five runs and five earned runs with one walk and two strikeouts in the 6-4 loss to the Cougars. 

From a hitting standpoint, LMU’s Willis and Derek Treece (Powell, TN) were both three-for-four at the plate.  Treece picked up his fifth double of the season and Willis’s homerun was his first as a Railsplitter.