GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – The Railsplitters (17-15, 8-4 SAC) begin a crucial South Atlantic Conference series Friday at SAC-leading Tusculum (20-8, 12-3 SAC). The Pioneers are red hot, winning 14 of their last 15 contests and 11 of 12 SAC matchups. Lincoln Memorial has also been playing well of late and has gone 16-8 since opening the year 1-7. The team has won five of its past six SAC matchups, including a series win over second-place Catawba.
 
Schedule/Game Day Links:

Friday, March 31 (6 p.m.) - Live Stats | Video
Saturday, April 1 (1 p.m.) - Live Stats | Video
Saturday, April 1 (4 p.m.) - Live Stats | Video
 
Quick Hits:

- The Railsplitters' matchup Wednesday at King was suspended after nine innings due to darkness with the score tied 9-9. The game will resume April 12 when the Tornado make their scheduled trip to Harrogate. Mason Ewers (Kingsport, Tenn.) homered and drove in two runs as part of a 2-for-5 afternoon. Seth Hunt (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Eric Kalman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) also each collected two hits and RBI.

- Lincoln Memorial outslugged high-powered Catawba with 10 home runs in last weekend's series. Timmy Wages (Molin, Ill.) launched three—one in each game—and Logan Augustine (Urbandale, Iowa) and Nate Stinson (Jonesboro, Ga.) each hit a pair. After totaling 19 home runs through their first 26 games, the Railsplitters have launched 16 over the past seven games.

- Augustine went 5-for-8 in the Catawba series and reached base safely in 11 of 14 plate appearances. His 45 runs scored are tied for first nationally with Barton's Andrew Webster and is also tied for ninth with 27 walks. He is third in the SAC in slugging percentage (.722) and third in on-base percentage (.503). Augustine's eight home runs and 10 stolen bases also lead the team and are already career highs.

- Since beginning the year batting just .118 through his first eight games with a plate appearance, Hunt has hit .437 (31-for-71), including a 6-for-6 performance March 11 at Lenoir-Rhyne to set a new program record for hits in a game. He also owns a .436 mark in SAC play.

- Ewers has crushed nonconference competition to the tune of a .430 average, 29 RBI and all six of his home runs. He leads the team in hits (45) and RBI (37) but has hit just .239 with a team-high 17 strikeouts in SAC play.

- Wages was not hit by a pitch in the King game or Catawba series and was surpassed by Columbus State's Turner Vincent to fall into second nationally with 17 hit-by-pitches. This has aided his .518 on-base percentage, which is the second-best total in the SAC.

- Lincoln Memorial scored in the first inning in the King game and both victories in the Catawba series, which marks 19 times in 33 games. Despite outscoring opponents 43-23 in the first inning thus far, the Railsplitters are just 8-10 in games they have scored in the first. The team has a 9-10 record when scoring the game's first run.

- Ethan Elliott (Knoxville, Tenn.) struggled in his start against Catawba, allowing seven runs (four earned) in four-plus innings as he fell to 3-3. He walked a season-high three batters and allowed eight hits, including a two-run shot to Nick Coble. The home run was his first allowed since a Malachi Hanes shot at Catawba March 19, 2016—a span of 14 starts and 88.2 innings. In eight starts the lefty owns a 4.37 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 45.1 innings.

- Brandon Jean (Franklin, Tenn.) pitched 6.1 innings Friday against Catawba to earn his third straight win. He allowed six earned runs, 10 hits and struck out four. The six runs came on four home runs. He has a 4-3 record with a 4.86 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 46.1 innings over eight starts.

- Dominic Morabito (Vienna, Va.) is 3-1 as a starter since being moved into the role February 19. He also has a save on the year and has struck out 41 batters in 35 innings.
 
Notes on the Pioneers:

- Tusculum has won nine straight South Atlantic Conference games to move into first place in the conference. After a 3-3 start against Coker and Mars Hill, the Pioneers have swept Newberry, Brevard and Anderson.

- Tusculum's only loss in its past 15 games was a 9-7 defeat at Mars Hill on March 5. Hitting has played a large role in the team's hot streak, as the Pioneers have scored at least seven runs on 12 occasions over those 15 games and scored at least 12 runs eight times. Tusculum averages almost 10 runs per game in SAC play and has cracked double digit runs in five of its past six conference games.

- Jeremy Glore leads a balanced Pioneer lineup with 45 hits and a .405 average on the season. Glore and Nick Lacina are tied for first in hits in SAC games with 26 each and are batting .441 and .448 respectively in such games.

- Colby Skeen has driven in a SAC-best 29 runs in 15 conference games, which is 11 more than any other player. He drove in seven over the weekend against Anderson and has also had big series against Mars Hill (10 RBI) and Newberry (7 RBI). His 37 overall are tied with Ewers for second in the conference.

- Despite such prominent run production, Tusculum ranks just seventh in the SAC with 18 home runs. Skeen leads the team with four. However, the Pioneers are the most difficult team in the conference to strike out. Tusculum hitters have struck out a SAC-low 165 times, which is 49 less than second-place Newberry. No Pioneer has struck out more than 11 times on the season.

- Tusculum is no slouch on the mound either, as the team's 4.01 ERA on the year and 3.52 in SAC play are the best totals in the conference. 

- Tim Hardy has emerged as the ace of the staff in the wake of Torres' departure with a 7-0 record and 2.96 ERA in seven starts. He has allowed one earned run or fewer in five of those starts and has struck out 61 batters in 48.2 innings.

- Ethan Carpenter and Zach Slage have also been solid on the mound. Carpenter leads the team with 50 innings pitched and owns a 4-2 record with a 3.78 ERA and 50 strikeouts in eight starts. Slage is 4-2 in eight starts with a 3.40 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 39.2 innings.
 
Series History:

- Tusculum has won the past five meetings to take a 32-27 edge in the all-time series.

- The Pioneers defeated the Railsplitters 3-0 in the 2016 SAC Baseball Championship behind a complete game shutout from consensus ABCA National Pitcher of the Year Placido Torres.

- Lincoln Memorial last beat the Pioneers February 17, 2014 as the Railsplitters swept a doubleheader.

- The Lincoln Memorial- Tusculum series has been one of streaks. Prior to Tusculum's current win streak, the Railsplitters had won four in a row. Tusculum has won at least three consecutive games in the series eight separate times, while Lincoln Memorial has done so on five occasions.

- The Pioneers' current five-game win streak is their longest in series history. The Railsplitters won six in a row between 2010 and 2012.