HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Railsplitters (13-13, 6-3 SAC) welcome the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals (5-8, 0-0 GLIAC) to Lamar Hennon Field for a three-game series Saturday and Sunday. Lincoln Memorial split its doubleheader against Bloomsburg Wednesday, while Saginaw Valley State has had a full week off since sweeping its doubleheader at Kentucky Wesleyan last Friday.
 
Schedule/Game Day Links:

Saturday, March 18 (1 p.m.) - Live Stats
Saturday, March 18 (4 p.m.) - Live Stats
Sunday, March 19 (1 p.m.) - Live Stats
 
 
Quick Hits:

- The Railsplitters jumped out to a 6-0 lead after the first three innings in game one of Wednesday's doubleheader behind Mason Ewers' (Kingsport, Tenn.) RBI double in the first and solo homer down the left field line in the third. Dalton Dedas (Louisville, Ky.) also added a two-run single in the team's four-run third that saw 10 batters come to the plate. However, Bloomsburg scored eight unanswered runs to come from behind to win 8-6. Damin Muth launched the go-ahead grand slam in the top of the seventh to complete the comeback.

- Lincoln Memorial salvaged a split with Bloomsburg in the second game as Muta Crusoe (Bellwood, Ill.) doubled in two runs in the bottom of the sixth to put the Railsplitters up 3-2. Timmy Wages (Molin, Ill.) pitched 2.2 hitless innings of relief to pick up the win.

- Seth Hunt (Knoxville, Tenn.) went 6-for-6 in the Lincoln Memorial's 17-10 win in game one of Saturday's doubleheader at Lenoir-Rhyne to set a new LMU record for hits in a game. Since hitting just .118 through his first eight games with a plate appearance, Hunt has hit .500 (20-for-40) during a 10-game hitting streak that has more than tripled that average to a team-best .386. He also owns a .538 (16-for-26) mark in South Atlantic Conference play.

- Logan Augustine (Urbandale, Iowa) went 0-for-3 in the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader to snap a 29-game on-base streak dating back to 2016. His 34 runs scored lead the team by a wide margin and are the second-best total in the SAC. His six home runs and nine stolen bases also lead the team and are already career highs.

- Wages was hit by a pitch for the 15^th time Wednesday, which leads the entire NCAA across all levels. He also went 4-for-6 in the doubleheader to increase his team-best on-base percentage to .523. That is also the second-best mark in the SAC behind Zach Jacobs' .525.

- Ewers has gotten back on track at the plate by going 8-for-17 with nine RBI over his past four games. He began the season with a scorching .423 start through the team's first 14 games but cooled down considerably, going just 3-for-27 over the next eight. He has regained the team lead in hits and RBI and moved into a tie with Augustine for the team's second-best batting average at .344.

- Lincoln Memorial scored twice in the first inning in game one of Wednesday's doubleheader. Despite outscoring opponents 30-18 in the first inning thus far, the Railsplitters fell to just 5-10 in games they have scored in the first. The team scored first in the second game as well and has a 6-10 record when scoring the game's first run.

- Ethan Elliott (Knoxville, Tenn.) did not make it through the fifth inning Saturday for the first time in 18 career starts. He allowed eight runs (six earned) in four-plus innings and did not receive a decision. The Bears knocked Elliott around for six hits, including four extra-base hits, and he also issued two free passes. In six starts the lefty is 2-2 with a 4.72 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 34.1 innings.

- Dominic Morabito (Vienna, Va.) made just his third career start on the mound for the Railsplitters Saturday against Lenoir-Rhyne and picked up his first career win in that role. He went the distance in the seven-inning game after also picking up a save the night before. For the year, Morabito has a 3-1 record with a 2.22 ERA in 24.1 innings and 30 strikeouts across nine appearances (two starts).
 
Notes on the Cardinals:

- Saginaw Valley State last played Friday, March 10 in a doubleheader sweep at Kentucky Wesleyan. The team jumped out to a 4-0 lead in game one and held on for the 4-3 win. In game two, Adam Fitzgibbon tripled in a run to break a 2-2 tie in the fifth, and the Cardinals added three more insurance runs in the seventh to win 6-2. Craig Wilson picked up two hits and runs scored in each game to lead Saginaw Valley State's offense.

- The Cardinals have yet to play a home game in University Center, Mich. at the SVSU Baseball Complex. Saginaw Valley State opens the season with 24 straight road games before opening its home schedule April 8 against Tiffin. The team will play 16 of its final 20 games at home.

- Saginaw Valley State began the season 0-6 but has won five of seven contests since.

- The team has already made one trip to East Tennessee March 3-5 to play Carson-Newman. The Cardinals dropped the first two games of the series to fall to 0-6 before winning the next two to earn a series split.

- Two-time All-GLIAC honoree Scott Sency headlines the team's pitching staff. The senior righty is 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 17.1 innings. He earned his first win in Friday's 4-3 victory at Kentucky Wesleyan by allowing three earned runs and five hits in six innings and striking out seven. He struck out 10 Carson-Newman batters in his previous start but also gave up seven earned runs in 6.1 innings in the team's 7-3 loss.

- Saginaw Valley State offense has recorded at least nine hits six times during its 5-2 stretch. The pitching staff has also held opponents to three earned runs or fewer four times in the same span after failing to do so during the team's six-game losing streak.

- Chad Carson leads the Cardinals offensively with a .435 average, 20 hits, eight doubles and .518 on-base percentage. His 11 RBI are also tied with Collin Winters for the most on the team. Winters has reached base safely in each of Saginaw Valley State's first 13 games and has recorded a hit in 12. 

- Wilson leads the Cardinals with six multi-hit efforts and has recorded two hits in three straight games.
 
Series History:

- This weekend will mark the first times these teams have met.