BREVARD, N.C. — Senior Brandon Cowan tossed a complete game to lead the Railsplitters to a 6-0 victory over the Tornados of Brevard College in the the first of a three-game South Atlantic Conference series on Friday. Lincoln Memorial University improves to 9-7 in league play and 14-15 overall, while Brevard drops to 6-10 in the SAC and 11-20 on the year.

Cowan improved to 3-2 on the season with the shutout. He held the Tornados to only five hits in the game and only twice did a Brevard runner get as far as second base. The righty fanned six and walked only one en route to the win.

The Railsplitters put up their first run of the game in the top of the third, as Josh Coker led off with a double and Scott Miller capitalized with an RBI-double three batters later to give LMU an early 1-0 lead.

In the top of the fifth, the ‘Splitters tallied two more runs behind an RBI-single off the bat of Cody Baker and an RBI-ground out by Miller. Baker’s single plated Coker, who led off with a single, while Miller scored Jacob West, who walked.

An RBI-single by Curt Fuqua along with another RBI-ground out, this time by Andre Rodriguez, paced a two-run scoring rally in the top half of the seventh for the Railsplitters. LMU would add another insurance run in the top of the ninth, as Miller led off with a double and Fuqua followed with a single to put runners on the corners with no outs. A wild pitch later in the inning allowed Miller to score LMU’s sixth run.

The Railsplitters’ 12-hit effort was paced by Miller, as the sophomore pounded four hits in five at-bats with three doubles, two RBI and two runs. Coker added a 3-for-4 day at the plate with a pair of runs, while Fuqua and Nick Morabito put in two hits apiece.

Kevin Hamilton suffered the loss on the mound for Brevard, falling to 5-3 after allowing eight hits and five runs in 6-1/3 innings of work. Hamilton struck out eight batters to only two walks in defeat.

Cody Queen was the only Tornado with multiple hits in the game with two singles.

The teams are scheduled to complete the series with a double-header today. Game one, slated for nine innings, is set to start at 1 p.m. with a seven-inning outing to follow.