MELBOURNE, Fla. – Lincoln Memorial makes its second road trip of the 2017 baseball season, this time to Melbourne, Fla. for three games against the Florida Tech Panthers. The Railsplitters (1-3) were swept by No. 6 USC Aiken to open the season and won their first game Monday, 19-5 at Claflin. The Panthers (3-1) kicked off their season with three consecutive wins at Mississippi College before falling in the final game of the series.
 
Schedule/Game Day Links:
Friday, February 10 (6 p.m.) - Live Stats | Video
Saturday, February 11 (1 p.m.) - Live Stats | Video
Saturday, February 11 (4 p.m.) - Live Stats | Video
 
Quick Hits:
- The Railsplitters were swept by No. 6 USC Aiken to open the 2017 campaign by scores of 9-0, 8-1 and 10-9. Pacer pitching dominated the first two matchups, as the staff allowed just one run and eight hits combined with 22 strikeouts. Lincoln Memorial bounced back in the third contest to take leads of 3-0, 7-4 and 9-7 but couldn't close the game out. USC Aiken went on to walk off in the bottom of the 11th inning thanks to a bases-loaded single.
 
- The sweep sent Lincoln Memorial to 15-38 all-time against USC Aiken. The Pacers have particularly dominated in recent years and have now won 18 of the past 20 meetings.
 
-The Railsplitter offense unloaded in a 19-5 win at Claflin Monday. Timmy Wages (Molin, Ill.) led the offensive onslaught with a 2-for-4 showing at the plate with his first career home run and eight RBI. In the process, he joined teammate Eric Kalman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) as just one of five players in program history to collect at least eight RBI in a game. Wages was also the games starting pitcher and earned the win, allowing three runs (two earned) in five innings with seven strikeouts.
 
- Logan Augustine (Urbandale, Iowa) posted a strong first weekend at the plate, going 8-for-16 with two walks, two doubles, four RBI and a stolen base. He went 6-for-9 in the final two games of the weekend.
 
- Mason Ewers (Kingsport, Tenn.) accounted for the team's only run in Saturday's 8-1 defeat with a solo home run in the seventh inning. His bat also caught fire over the final two games, as he went 5-for-9. Ewers also added a stolen base in three of the team's first four games.
 
- Since opening the season 0-for-4, freshman Tyler Adams (Woodstock, Ga.) is 8-for-14 with three straight multi-hit efforts and is tied with Augustine for the team lead in hits. His best game came in Sunday's loss to USC Aiken in which he posted a 4-for-6 performance.
 
- Lincoln Memorial returns four of its top six hitters from an offense that scored the second-most runs in the SAC in 2016. Kalman led the team in hits (67) and batting average (.362). Ewers is the team's main source of power and finished last season with 12 home runs, while his 46 RBI are the best among returners. Augustine was second on the team among regular starters with a .351 batting average. Russell Clark (Wexford, Penn.) was second on the team with six home runs.
 
- 2016 SAC Freshman of the Year and All-SAC first team selection Ethan Elliot (Knoxville, Tenn.) allowed three runs (two earned) in his first start Friday at USC Aiken. He dealt with considerable traffic—nine base runners through his first four innings of work—but limited damage to just a single run in the second, third and fourth innings. Despite the effort, he took the loss as the Railsplitters were shut out, 9-0.
 
- The Railsplitters were selected to finish fifth in the South Atlantic Conference baseball preseason coaches' poll. The team was also slotted at No. 25 in the 2017 Perfect Game Division II preseason national rankings. In addition, Elliott, Ewers and Kalman were named to the preseason All-SAC squad, while Elliot was also named to the preseason NCBWA All-Southeast Region Team.
 
Notes on the Panthers:
- Florida Tech won three of its four opening weekend matchups at Mississippi College. The Panthers won the first three games by scores of 6-4, 8-3 and 11-2 but lost the finale 9-4.
 
- The Panthers were rewarded with strong starts from Ty Cohen, Andrew Marzheuser and Tyler Deel in their three victories. Cohen started the opener and struck out nine batters in 5.2 innings, allowing just one earned run, but did not factor in the decision. Marzheuser followed that performance with 4.1 shutout innings and one hit allowed but also walked four and was pulled in the fifth inning. Deel turned in the strongest performance of the trio and earned a win with seven strikeouts in seven shutout innings with just four hits and no walks allowed.
 
- Cohen led all Panther starters in 2016 with 15 starts, 9-4 record, 3.89 ERA, and 98 strikeouts in 90.1 innings. Deel went 4-5 in 14 starts with a 5.16 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 66.1 innings. Marzheuser pitched primarily in relief but made three starts, including a nine-strikeout performance over seven shutout innings against Eckerd in his final appearance of 2016.
 
- Florida Tech received a balanced performance from its lineup, as six players tallied at least four hits and three RBI in the opening series. John Sternagel leads the team in hits after a 5-for-16 weekend while Nick Capra drove in five runs to pace the Panthers in that category.
 
- James Gronberg was a perfect 4-for-4 stealing bases in the opening series.
 
- Florida Tech returns almost all of its offensive production from the 2016 season, as nine players of the team's top batters in terms of hits are back. Sternagel led the team a year ago with a .381 average, 59 runs scored, 20 doubles, 30 walks and 36 stolen bases. He also tied fellow returners Danel Szpik and Grant McCown for the most home runs with five. Szpik's 78 hits and 49 RBI were team bests in their respective categories. McCown was third on the team in hits (55) behind Sternagel and McCown and second in RBI (44). Regular starters Gronberg, Erik Molina, Reid Neil, Kevin Capella, Grant McKown, David Wilson and Ryan Sinzenich are also back.
 
Series History:
- Florida Tech leads the all-time series 3-1. All four meetings have been played in Melbourne.
 
- The Railsplitters shut out the 15th-ranked Panthers 3-0 in 2008 in the teams' first-ever meeting.
 
- The teams met again in 2013, this time for a three-game series. Florida Tech swept Lincoln Memorial with scores of 5-2, 5-3 and 5-1.