HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Railsplitters host the Kentucky State Thorobreds (3-8) for two games Tuesday, February 21 at Lamar Hennon Field. Lincoln Memorial (3-8) opened the home portion of its schedule by taking two of three matchups with Ohio Valley over the weekend, while Kentucky State split a doubleheader with Lake Erie College.
Schedule/Game Day Links:
Tuesday, February 21 (3 p.m.) -
Live Stats
Tuesday, February 21 (6 p.m.) -
Live Stats
Quick Hits:
- The Railsplitters crushed Ohio Valley in Saturday's series opened 16-2.
Russell Clark (Wexford, Pa.) was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with a two-run homer, while
Tyler Adams (Woodstock, Ga.) drove in four runs, including three on his first career home run.
Nate Stinson (Jonesboro, Ga.) and
Mason Ewers (Kingsport, Tenn.) added two more RBI apiece.
Ethan Elliott (Knoxville, Tenn.) shut down the Fighting Scots with just two runs and three hits allowed in six innings of work. He also struck out nine on his way to his first win of the young season.
- In the second game,
Timmy Wages (Molin, Ill.) doubled in the tying and go-ahead runs in the bottom of the seventh, and Ewers cleared the bases with another double the next inning to fuel a pair of late Railsplitter rallies. Lincoln Memorial trailed 3-1 after the top of the sixth inning but scored six runs over the final three innings to take the first game 7-3.
Dominic Morabito (Vienna, Va.) struck out seven Fighting Scots in 3.1 shutout innings of relief to pick up his first win of the season. He worked out of jams in the sixth and seventh innings to keep the game close and struck out four of the final seven batters he faced to close out the game.
- The Railsplitters jumped ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the first in Sunday's series finale off Ohio Valley starting pitcher Travis Perkola. Ewers laced a single to left to drive in both runs. Perkola settled in afterward and kept Lincoln Memorial off the board for the remainder of the game. The Fighting Scots tied the game against starter
Matt Mullenbach (Urbandale, Iowa) and pushed across the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth with three consecutive singles against reliever
Cody Hinson (Taylor Ridge, Ill.), which were the only hits he allowed in 3.1 innings of relief. The Railsplitters could not tie in the bottom of the seventh, which gave Ohio Valley the 3-2 win for its first victory of the season.
- Ewers recorded multiple hits and RBI in each game of the series and finished the weekend 6-for-12 with 12 RBI. The strong weekend gave him the team lead in average (.381) and hits (16).
- Wages went 4-for-10 in the series with three RBI to increase his team-leading RBI total to 13. Ewers is one behind with 12.
- Lincoln Memorial scored in the first inning Sunday for the sixth time this season. Despite outscoring opponents 14-3 in the first inning thus far, the Railsplitters fell to 1-6 in the games they have scored in the first.
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Nate Stinson (Jonesboro, Ga.) has been an early catalyst for the Railsplitters, batting 5-for-9 (all singles) with a walk and hit by pitch to lead off games. He has also scored five first-inning runs. In all other at bats the freshman is 6-for-38 with a team-high 17 strikeouts.
- Lincoln Memorial is off to its worst start since 2005, when the team dropped its first nine games.
Notes on the Thorobreds:
- Kentucky State split its home-opening matchup against Lake Erie College over the weekend. The Thorobreds took the first game 9-3 behind freshman pitcher Connor Kelley's brilliant performance in his first career start. Kelley allowed three unearned runs in seven innings with five strikeouts to earn his first win. All three runs came in the top of the first, and he only allowed two hits afterward. The Thorobreds pushed across one run in each of the first three innings to tie the score and blew the game open with a six-run fifth inning.
- Kentucky State's pitching staff struggled with command in the second game and walked 11 batters. The defense didn't do the pitchers any favors either and committed four errors as the team fell behind 11-2 through four innings. The Thorobreds made the game interesting late by scoring seven runs over the final four innings but ultimately fell short in the 12-9 loss.
- Artie Santomo has recorded multiple hits in seven of 11 games played and leads the team in average (.500), hits (19), RBI (14) and runs scored (14).
- Cameron Starks has five multi-hit performances in 11 games and is second on the team in average (.432) and hits (16).
- Brandon Story is hitting .317 with a team-leading four doubles. No other regular starter is hitting above .229.
- The team is 16-for-18 on stolen base attempts on the year. Nine players have stolen at least one base, led by Jay Poullard and Elijah Collins' three apiece.
- Kentucky State has committed 33 errors in 11 games for a .905 fielding percentage. Nine players have committed at least one error, led by Story's seven and Justin Stinson's six. The team has committed multiple errors in every game.
- The Thorobred pitching staff has combined to allow 52 walks and 15 hit batters in 73.1 total innings.
- Six different pitchers have made a start through the team's first 11 games. Four have tossed a complete game, although the team is 2-2 in such occurrences.
Series History:
- The Railsplitters are 21-1 all-time against Kentucky State, including a perfect 10-0 at Lamar Hennon Field.
- The teams last met in Harrogate in 2014. Lincoln Memorial swept the doubleheader 6-5 and 21-1.
- Lincoln Memorial won a 26-21 slugfest last year in Frankfort, Ky. The Railsplitters scored six runs in the top of the ninth to pull ahead. Every starting Railsplitter position player recorded at least two hits and an RBI. The teams combined for 47 runs, 39 hits, seven errors, 10 walks and 10 hit batters.
- Kentucky State's only win in the series was 7-5 in Frankfort in 2015.
- Lincoln Memorial set a program records of 42 runs, 29 hits, 11 doubles and seven home runs in a 42-2 walloping in Frankfort March 21, 2008.
