HARROGATE, Tenn. — The Railsplitters combined for 25 hits and 25 runs on Tuesday at Lamar Hennon Field en route to a two-game sweep over the Philadelphia University Rams in nonconference baseball action. Lincoln Memorial University (10-13, 6-6 SAC) cruised to a 16-5 win in the opener before rallying to defeat Philadelphia (2-8-1) by a score of 9-5 in the nightcap to capture their third victory in five appearances.
Lincoln Memorial will cap their eight-game home stand this weekend with a three-game South Atlantic Conference series against the Newberry College Wolves. That series tips with a nine-inning showdown beginning at 4 p.m. on Friday before the Railsplitters and Wolves duke it out in a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m.
In Tuesday’s first game LMU scored in all seven innings, marked by a five-run outburst in the bottom of the third and a four-run rally in the bottom of the sixth, to roll in a 16-5 decision over the Rams.
Andre Rodriguez popped a two-run double in the first and Cody Baker drilled an RBI single in the second as the Railsplitter jumped out to a 4-1 lead. The Rams cut it to 4-2 in the top of the third, but LMU took command by putting up five runs in their half of the inning.
Scott Miller notched the big hit of the inning with a two-run double, while Josh Coker and Rodriguez recorded run-scoring hits. Curt Fuqua also got in on the act with a sacrifice fly out to force home a run and propel the Railsplitters to a 9-2 advantage and they went on to the 16-5 win.
LMU pounded out 17 hits in the contest with six different players tallying multi-hit performances. Rodriguez spearheaded that effort with three hits, three RBI and two runs, while Coker also added three hits and a pair of RBI. Baker, Fuqua, Nick Morabito and Colin Buckner put in two hits each. All nine starters in the lineup for the Railsplitters notched at least one hit.
Wes Todd (1-1) picked up the first win of his collegiate career after tossing four innings of six-hit, three-run ball for the Railsplitters. Todd struck out three batters and only recorded one walk in 20 batters faced. Hunter Hill, Austin Johnson and Dylan Reid pitched the final three innings for the Railsplitters with no runs allowed between that trio.
In game two, the Railsplitters found themselves in a 4-0 hole after three but rallied down the stretch to take a 9-5 victory in the nightcap to complete the sweep over the Rams.
The LMU bats got going in the fourth inning as Coker delivered a two-run double and Morabito added a sac fly to bring cut the deficit to 4-3. Lincoln Memorial went on to take the lead in the bottom of the fifth, as Morabito struck again, this time with a three-run blast over the left field fence to propel the Railsplitters to a 6-4 lead.
Nick Pressley paced a three-run rally in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run triple through the right side, while Rodriguez drove home another run with an RBI single to give the Railsplitters some breathing room with a 9-2 cushion heading into the seventh and they held on from there.
Ian Creager (2-2) picked up the win for the Railsplitters after tossing a perfect inning in relief, fanning two of the three batters he faced. Dillon Swaggerty made the start for Lincoln Memorial, as he tallied four innings of five-hit, three-run ball.
Pressley led the LMU offense in game two as senior compiled three hits, three runs and a pair of RBI. Morabito turned in two hits with four RBI, while Rodriguez built on his three-hit performance in game one with two hits and two runs in game two.
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