KODAK, Tenn. -- The four-seeded Railsplitters rallied from a six-run deficit and tied the top-seeded Catawba Indians in the bottom of the ninth inning on day two of the 2016 Pilot/Flying J South Atlantic Conference Baseball Championship before the skies opened up and forced the game to be suspended on Saturday evening at Smokies Stadium in Kodak, Tennessee. Once the game resumed early Sunday morning, the Indians quickly took the lead in the top of the 10th and sat Lincoln Memorial down in order to come away with the 9-8 victory.
 
With the loss, the Railsplitters end the 2016 season with a 28-21 overall record, while Catawba marches on to play the winner of Carson-Newman and Tusculum later on Sunday.
 
Lincoln Memorial committed three early errors to help the SAC regular-season champion Indians jump out to a commanding 8-2 lead. But some lockdown relief work combined with a shaky effort from the Catawba bullpen powered a comeback effort that saw the Railsplitters score two runs in the seventh, one run in the eighth and three in the ninth to tie the game.
 
Mason Ewers (Kingsport, Tenn.) led the way for the LMU offense with four hits, including two doubles, a home run and three RBI. Wes Neiderland (Thompson Station, Tenn.), Jean Rodriguez (Caguas, Puerto Rico) and Logan Augustine (Urbandale, Iowa) had two hits apiece, while Rodriguez and Eric Kalman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) were responsible for two RBI apiece.
 
Junior right-handed pitcher Brandon Jean (Franklin, Tenn.) lasted just two-plus innings for the Railsplitters, but was victimized by the Railsplitters' shaky defense, as he allowed just three hits and two earned runs over that span before giving way to Chase Randolph (Harriman, Tenn.). Randolph allowed three hits and three runs in three innings of relief.
 
Dominic Morabito (Vienna, Va.) was the man responsible for stabilizing the Railsplitters, though, as he shut the Indians down over his four innings of work, allowing just three hits without a run and five strikeouts while Lincoln Memorial's offense chipped away at the Catawba lead.
 
Matt Mullenbach (Urbandale, Iowa) took the mound for the Railsplitters once the game resumed on Sunday morning and was saddled with the loss after giving up two hits, two walks and a run while recording just one out. Cody Hinson (Taylor Ridge, Ill.) kept the Indians from blowing the game wide open in the 10th, when he stranded the bases loaded with back-to-back strikeouts.  
 
In the first at-bat of the game, Catawba lead-off hitter Dylan Richardson reached via an errant throw from shortstop Rodriguez. That error proved detrimental to the Railsplitters' cause, as Catawba brought three two-out runs home that inning to race out to an early 3-0 lead. Will Albertson was hit by a pitch, which was sandwiched around a flyout and a strikeout, bringing Chance Bowden to the plate with two runners on and two outs. Bowden put the Indians on the board with a single back up the middle, while Kyle Smith brought two runs in with a double into the gap in left center.
 
The Railsplitters cut into the Indians' lead in the home half of the second, when Neiderland led off with a double and later scored on a two-bagger from Ewers. But Catawba answered with two runs in the top of the third. Albertson was hit by another pitch, while Malachi Hanes doubled to put the pieces in place. Another infield error on a ball put in play by Bowden allowed Albertson to score, while Smith drove in another with a sacrifice flyout.
 
Lincoln Memorial got another run back in the bottom of third on an RBI groundout from Kalman, which plated HD Dillard (Woodstock, Ga.), who singled two batters earlier. However, Catawba blew the game wide open in the top of the fourth on a three-run home run from Albertson, which increased the Indians' lead to 8-2. That inning began with the Railsplitters committing their third error of the game.
 
The Indians carried that commanding 8-2 cushion into the bottom of the seventh inning, when Ewers shook the Railsplitters' offense to life with a no-doubt, solo home run to pull Lincoln Memorial within five. After that dinger, singles from Joe Stucky (Powell, Tenn.) and Rodriguez along with a walk to Augustine loaded the bases with two outs. Kalman was then plunked by an 0-2 pitch to bring another run in. However, Michael Elwell - Catawba's fifth pitcher used in the inning - struck out Neiderland to strand the bases loaded and keep Catawba comfortably ahead 8-4.
 
The Railsplitters sparked some more two-out magic in the bottom of the eighth, as Stucky and Danny Valdez (Orlando, Fla.) drew two-out walks to put two runners on for Rodriguez, who drove home a run with a double to left centerfield.
 
That would be all the Railsplitters would get in the eighth, but they were back in business again in the bottom of the ninth, using a fielding error, a Neiderland single and a walk to load the bases with just one away. Ewers closed the gap to 8-6 by slashing a 1-2 pitch into left field, while Stucky walked to make it 8-7. After a strikeout, the Railsplitters were down to their last out, but Rodriguez worked a six-pitch walk to bring home the tying run.
 
With the inning still going, the Railsplitters had a chance to walk off with the victory, but Dillard popped out to the Catawba second baseman to force extra innings. The grounds crew was then quickly called onto the field after the final out was recorded, sending the game into a rain delay before it was eventually suspended to Sunday.
 
Once the game resumed around 9:30 on Sunday morning, the Indians quickly washed away the memory of their late meltdown, using a walk to Jake Kimble, a single from Richardson and a walk to Luke Setzer to load the bases with just one out. Albertson then drove in the winning run with a single through the left side of the infield. Catawba potentially could have busted the game open that inning, but Hinson fanned Malachi Hanes and Bowden in back-to-back at bats to keep the Railsplitters' deficit at 9-8.
 
That one-run lead was enough for Connor Johnson, though, as the left-handed reliever put the Railsplitters down in 1-2-3 order in the bottom of the 10th to end Lincoln Memorial's season.
 
Catawba used seven arms to make it through the marathon game. Sean Grant made the start, allowing nine hits and four runs with four strikeouts in six-plus innings of work. Bryan Blanton picked up the win despite allowing three hits and one run while walking three in 1 1/3 innings of relief. Johnson earned his second save of the season thanks to his scoreless inning of work.
 
Albertson led the Indians by going 2 for 3 with four RBI and three runs scored. Richardson went 3 for 6 with a pair of runs, while Smith produced a pair of hits with three RBI.