BRISTOL, Tenn. -- The Railsplitters (9-4) nearly rallied from a nine-run deficit, but the King Tornado (7-7) held on to capture a 13-11 victory in NCAA Division II baseball action on Wednesday afternoon in Bristol, Tenn.
 
Lincoln Memorial racked up 13 hits to record its 10th straight double-digit hit performance and took advantage of four King errors to come ever-so close to pulling off a massive come-from-behind win, but the Railsplitters ultimately couldn't overcome a pair of five-run innings.
 
Logan Augustine (Urbandale, Iowa) led the charge by going 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored, while Eric Kalman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a 2-for-4 effort that included two runs and an RBI. Joe Stucky (Powell, Tenn.) went 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Mason Ewers (Kingsport, Tenn.) drove in a team-high two runs.
 
Senior right-handed Zac Butler (Blue Springs, Mo.) took the loss on the mound for the Railsplitters, falling to 1-2 on the season after allowing eight hits and seven earned runs over four innings of work. Lefty Grant Painter (Knoxville, Tenn.) gave the Railsplitters a chance to win late with two flawless innings of relief work that included two strikeouts.
 
The Railsplitters drew first blood in the top of the first inning, as Seth Hunt (Knoxville, Tenn.) reached on an infield error to lead off the frame and later scored on a wild pitch. Kalman increased the LMU lead to 2-0 with a sacrifice fly later in the inning.
 
King went quietly in the home half of the first, but catapulted into the lead by putting up five runs in the second. Singles from Moises Soto and Tyler Bailey paired with a J.P. Castaneda walk loaded the bases with no outs. A single by Preston Douglas then cut the Railsplitters' lead in half, while a hit by pitch brought the tying run home. Following a fielder's choice, Ryan Whitt capped the five-run frame with a two-out, two-run double.
 
The Tornado added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth, as Mark Hencken and Whitt each drove in runs and Whitt scored on a two-out throwing error to put the Railsplitters in an 8-2 hole.
 
An RBI double by Hunt in the top of the fifth followed by Ewers' RBI groundout in the sixth trimmed King's lead to 8-4, but the Tornado hung up five more runs in the home half of the sixth to put the Railsplitters behind 13-4. Whitt and Ryan Sattz hit back-to-back home runs to account for three of King's runs that inning, while Joe Ganger plated two with a single.
 
Staring up at the nine-run deficit, an error opened the door for the Railsplitters in the top of the eighth. A throwing miscue followed by singles from Augustine and Kalman sparked the rally and loaded the bases for LMU with no outs.
 
Another error allowed the first run of the inning to cross, while Ewers drew a bases-loaded walk and Jean Rodriguez (Caguas, Puerto Rico) singled to make it 13-7. After a pitching change, Danny Valdez (Orlando, Fla.) singled in another run. Stucky then made it 13-9 with an RBI lineout.
 
With the bases still loaded, HD Dillard (Woodstock, Ga.) recorded an RBI fielder's choice that saw King commit its third error of the inning, which pushed three runs across to make it a 13-11 game. After another single, the inning would finally end on a groundout by Kalman.
 
That's as close as the Railsplitters would get, though, as the visitors went down in one-two-three order in the top of the ninth.
 
The loss drops Lincoln Memorial to 22-20-1 in the all-time series against King, as the Tornado defeated the Railsplitters for the 19th time in the last 25 meetings.
 
Whitt hit for the cycle to lead the King offensive attack, finishing with four hits, five RBI and two runs scored. Ganger added a pair of hits and three RBI.
 
Brandon Barbour picked up the win for the Tornado after allowing seven hits and two earned runs over six innings of work. Nathan Helke earned the save with 1 2/3 innings of relief work, a stretch during which he allowed just one hit.
 
The Railsplitters return to action on Friday in the first of a three-game South Atlantic Conference set at Newberry, with first pitch set for 6 p.m.