HICKORY, N.C. -- Brandon Jean (Franklin, Tenn.) and Grant Painter (Knoxville, Tenn.) turned in solid starts and the offense provided loads of run support as the Railsplitters (8-7, 5-3 SAC) swept a South Atlantic Conference baseball doubleheader from the 23rd-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne Bears (11-4, 4-4 SAC) on Saturday in Hickory, N.C.
 
Lincoln Memorial took advantage of nearly every scoring opportunity it had and raced away with a 10-3 win in the opener, while senior outfielder Jonathan Lowe (Sidney, Ohio) plated three runs in a 9-5 win in game two, which extended the Railsplitters' winning streak to five.
 
Game One: Lincoln Memorial 10, Lenoir-Rhyne 3
 
Jean bent but never broke over his six-inning start, allowing 11 hits and two earned runs while matching a career-high with eight strikeouts.
 
The Railsplitters' offense accounted for a run in six of their eight go-arounds to help Jean pick up his first win of the season.
 
Wes Neiderland (Thompson Station, Tenn.) led off with a line-drive home run in the bottom of the first, and Logan Augustine (Urbandale, Iowa) drove in another in the first frame with a run-scoring single into left center.
 
Augustine tacked on another run in the bottom of the third, driving in Lowe with a single back up the middle. Lowe reached two batters before that with a single into center field.
 
The Bears finally broke through in the top of the fifth with a two-run single off the bat of Will Thompson, but the Railsplitters erased that and added increased their lead with a three-run outburst in the bottom of the fifth. Lowe reached on an error and scored on Eric Kalman's (Brooklyn, N.Y.) sacrifice fly out, while Ryan Burlison (Romeoville, Ill.) burned the L-R center fielder and plated two more runs with a two-out double.
 
Scott Miller (Knoxville, Tenn.) increased the lead to 7-2 with his second career home run with one out in the  bottom of the sixth, and the Railsplitters added two more runs thanks to Jean Rodriguez's (Caguas, Puerto Rico) two-run, two-out triple down the left-field line in the seventh.
 
Adam Venditti got one back for the Bears with a pitch-hit, run-scoring double in the eighth, but the Railsplitters erased that once again in the home half of that inning with a sacrifice ground out from Kyle Floyd (Windsor, Ill.).
 
Augustine went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored, while Neiderland and Miller both contributed two hits to the Railsplitters' 11-hit total. Burlison and Rodriguez finished with two RBI apiece.
 
Nick Morabito (Vienna, Va.) tossed two innings in relief, allowing only one run and four hits over that span. Jake Mills (McCordsville, Ind.) finished it off with a flawless top of the ninth.
 
The Bears outhit the Railsplitters 15-11 in the contest, but stranded 10 runners on base. Lincoln Memorial left eight runners on the base paths.
 
Game Two: Lincoln Memorial 9, Lenoir-Rhyne 5
 
Lenoir-Rhyne put the first three runners on in the top of the second before Painter induced a 5-4-3 double play. Ryan Perkins, who led off with a single, scored on the play. Matthew De La Rosa singled in another run in the next at-bat, and back-to-back infield errors allowed De La Rosa to score two batters later to give the Bears a 3-0 lead.
 
The Railsplitters bounced back in a big way by batting around and doubling up the Bears' run total with a six-run outburst in the bottom of the second. Augustine walked and scored on a single by Burlison. A Neiderland double two batters later scored two more runs, while an infield error put Miller on base and allowed another run to score. Lowe notched the first of his three RBI with a sacrifice fly out and Augustine capped the scoring with a run-scoring single back up the middle.
 
After that offensive onslaught, Painter settled in on the mound. Painter allowed just three hits the over the next four innings, finishing the contest with six innings pitched, seven hits allowed, two strikeouts and two earned runs. The Knoxville, Tenn. native improved to 2-2 with the victory.
 
The Railsplitters added two more runs in support of Painter in the bottom of the third as Lowe popped a two-run single through the left side of the infield, scoring both Rodriguez and Burlison.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, Lincoln Memorial pushed the lead to 9-3 on some first-and-third hijinks as Augustine swiped second and Floyd scored on the throw.
 
The Bears made it interesting in the top of the seventh as Brantley Rumford singled, Marcus Shoemaker collected a base hit and Colby Dishmond doubled to cut the deficit to 9-4. An error in the infield allowed another run to score, but Burlison shut the door by inducing a fly out and a strikeout.
 
Lowe posted a game-high three RBI with two hits, while Augustine added two more hits, increasing his gaudy batting average to .429. Burlison was 2-for-4 with two runs scored - Neiderland drove in two runs.
 
The Railsplitters and Bears complete their SAC series with a single nine-inning game at 1 p.m. tomorrow in Hickory, N.C.