Railsplitters & Tornados Finally Get to Play SAC Series

Photo by Allen Earl Photography

HARROGATE, TN - After waiting since Friday evening to get the series started, the Lincoln Memorial University and Brevard College baseball teams finally managed to squeeze in two of the three originally scheduled South Atlantic Conference games on Monday afternoon. 

Rainy conditions throughout the eastern half of the United States not only forced the Railsplitters and Tornados to postpone the start of the their conference series, many teams throughout the region were forced to cancel altogether.  The delay of the LMU verses Brevard series was particularly frustrating for both head coaches with LMU looking to move up the ladder in the league standings and Brevard hoping to capture its first ever South Atlantic Conference baseball win.

The Tornados and the Railsplitters played scoreless baseball in the first game until Brevard exploded in the top of the fourth inning to score all seven of their runs.  The devestating blow proved to be too much for the Railsplitters to overcome and BC came away with a 7-0 win, their first conference win since joining the South Atlantic Conference a year ago.

Dual sport Tornado athlete Shane Galloway went the distance to pick up the win and improved to 2-2 on the year.  Galloway pitched seven innings, gave up five hits and recorded the shutout with two walks and six strikeouts.  LMU's Josh Strawn (4-1) suffered his first loss of the season.  Strawn lasted the first six innings, allowing nine hits, seven runs and two earned runs with a walk and seven strikeouts.  Scott Erland pitched the final inning and allowed no damage with a walk.

In game two, again the Tornados grabbed the early lead in the top of the first inning Jason Merrill doubled down the right field line to put two Brevard runs across the plate.  BC took a 3-0 lead in the top of the third when Merrill doubled to left center and later stole third before scoring on a throwing error by the Railsplitter catcher.

In the bottom of the third, the Railsplitters final started showing signs of life at the plate.  Senior Tommy Casto homered with one out to left center field to put the LMU on the scoreboard.  Later, the Railsplitter's Nick Langley singled to left field to score teammate Cody Pack and it was 3-2 Brevard.

LMU took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth inning when Casto doubled to right center to pick up the RBI and Cody Pack reached on a dropped fly ball by the Brevard College right fielder and advanced to second on a Tornado throwing error.  The effort managed to get teammate John Couch across the plate.  Senior Bryon Izzo later hit a sac fly to left field that scored Casto and LMU ended the inning with a 5-3 lead.

The Railsplitters tacked on their final runs in the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings.  In the fifth, John Couch doubled to center field to score two LMU runs, and then Tommy Casto reached on a dropped fly ball which scored teammate John Couch.  Casto was thrown out at third in the play to end the inning but Couch's run scored before the out. 

Shane Kaufman's double down the left field line in the bottom of the sixth inning was LMU's final blow.  The base knock scored teammate Bryon Izzo from third and LMU took a commanding 9-3 lead going into the final inning.  Despite a solo homerun by Brevard's Kellen Moman and an RBI single by Adam Arrowood in the top of the seventh, LMU held the Tornado's at bay and came away with a 9-5 victory.

LMU pitcher Sean Woolard got the win to improve to 2-4 on the season.  Woolard pitched six innings, allowing seven hits, three runs and two earned runs with two walks and six strikeouts.  Railsplitter Jeff Ludlow tossed the final inning, allowing two hits and two runs which were both earned while logging a walk and two strikeouts.

BC's Seth Laughter suffered the loss to fall to 1-2 on the year.  Laughter lasted only 3.1 innings before getting the hook.  He gave up six hits, five runs and two earned runs with no walks and three strikeouts.

The Railsplitters move to 15-12 on the season and 4-7 in league play, whlie Brevard falls to 7-13 overall and 1-7 in the South Atlantic Conference. 

On Tuesday afternoon, the Railsplitters will travel to Gaffney, South Carolina to take on Limestone College in a 2:30 match-up.  Then, on Wednesday LMU will play future SAC opponent Anderson University in Anderson, South Carolina before returning to Gaffney on Thursday to play Limestone one last time.  The Railsplitters will be at home again this weekend when they play host to Oakland City University.

Game One:  Brevard 7, Lincoln Memorial 0
Mar 16, 2009 at Harrogate, TN
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Brevard............. 000 700 0 -  7  9  1      (7-12, 1-6 SAC)
Lincoln Memorial.... 000 000 0 -  0  5  2      (14-12, 3-7 SAC)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Brevard - Shane Galloway and Jason Merrill. Lincoln Memorial - Josh Strawn; Scott Erland(7) and Jason Pabon.
Win-Shane Galloway(2-2)  Loss-Josh Strawn(4-1)  T-2:00  A-0
Complete Box Score

Game Two:  Lincoln Memorial 9, Brevard 5
Mar 16, 2009 at Harrogate, TN
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Brevard............. 201 000 2 -  5  9  4      (7-13, 1-7 SAC)
Lincoln Memorial.... 002 331 X -  9 10  1      (15-12, 4-7 SAC)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Brevard - Seth Laughter; Ryan Toney(4); Jacob White(6); Matthew Pruitt(6) and Jason Merrill.
Lincoln Memorial - Sean Woolard; Jeff Ludlow(7) and Bryon Izzo.
Win-Sean Woolard(2-4)  Loss-Seth Laughter(1-2)  T-1:58  A-25
HR BC - Kellen Moman (2).
HR LMU - Tommy Casto (1).
Complete Box Score

Which fall sport are you looking forward to the most?