The afternoon got started on a down note for Lincoln Memorial when Catawba turned in a strong effort in the top of the second inning to put three runs across the plate.  The lead went unanswered by the Railsplitters until the bottom of the fifth when LMU’s Casey Sedley (Miami, FL) went out of the yard in left center to cut the deficit to 3-1 in favor of Catawba.  Only an inning later in the bottom of the sixth, Lincoln Memorial’s Tommy Casto (Deerfield Beach, FL) scored from third on a dropped fly ball by the Indians to make it a 3-2 game.

In the bottom of the eighth inning the Railsplitters managed to take the upper hand by scoring four runs.  The inning was highlighted by catcher Bryon Izzo’s (Miramar, FL) three-run blast over the leftfield fence to give the Railsplitters a 6-3 advantage.  The LMU celebration turned out to be short-lived, as Catawba came storming back in the top of the ninth behind Craig Lyerly’s two run shot.  The Indians eventually crossed the plate four times in the inning to take a 7-6 in going into the bottom of the inning.

With their backs to the wall and only three outs to even the score, Mike Richardson (Murfreesboro, TN) doubled to right center and scored when teammate Dustin Rowland (Eagle River, Alaska) singled through the right side.  The scored now tied at 7-7, Catawba got the final out and sent the game into extra innings.

In the top of the tenth inning, just as they had done in Saturday’s second game, the Indians put together several key hits in another clutch at bat and tacked on four runs to jump out to an 11-7 lead.  The damage proved to be fatal, as the Railsplitters couldn’t muster another comeback to tie the game and Catawba escaped with 3-0 sweep of LMU by holding the final 11-7 margin.

Chad Baker (2-0) picked up the win for Catawba, as the Indians improved to 11-7 in South Atlantic Conference play.  LMU’s Kyle Wakefield (Kalamazoo, MI) got the loss and fell to 4-3 this season, as Lincoln Memorial drops to 22-15 overall and 5-9 in league play

The Railsplitters will be back in action on Tuesday afternoon when they play host to NAIA opponent Berea College at home on the Lamar Hennon Field.  The afternoon schedule is set for a 3:00 p.m. start and will feature two seven inning games.  

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