HICKORY, N.C. – After a brief pause from SAC play, the Railsplitters (9-12, 3-3 SAC) travel to Hickory, N.C. for a weekend series against conference foe Lenoir-Rhyne (14-6, 3-3 SAC). Over the past week, Lincoln Memorial dropped two of three at home to South Atlantic Conference opponent Coker and split a doubleheader at Bellarmine, while the Bears dropped two of three at home to Catawba and lost another home game to Belmont Abbey.
 
Schedule/Game Day Links:

Friday, March 10 (6 p.m.)
Saturday, March 11 (1 p.m.)
Saturday, March 11 (4 p.m.)
 
Quick Hits:

- The Railsplitters used a 13-run fifth inning to take the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader at Bellarmine 16-10. The team batted around twice in the inning and had 10 consecutive batters safely reach base at one point. Russell Clark (Wexford, Pa.) had a pair of RBI hits and drove in three total runs in the inning, while Logan Augustine (Urbandale, Iowa) scored twice in three plate appearances.

- Bellarmine scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning in game two for the 6-5 walk-off victory. Timmy Wages (Molin, Ill.) and Seth Hunt (Knoxville, Tenn.) combined for five of Lincoln Memorial's six hits in the game. Dalton Dedas (Louisville, Ky.) laced a two-run single for the team's only other hit.

- Lincoln Memorial lost two of three matchups over the weekend against Coker to open its home SAC schedule. Clark launched a two-run home run in the first inning in Friday's opener, but the Railsplitters failed to score again and ultimately lost 4-2. Ethan Elliot (Knoxville, Tenn.) went the distance in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader to lead the Railsplitters past the Cobras 5-3. Wages and Logan Augustine homered in the rubber match to stake Lincoln Memorial to a 4-0 lead, but the offense again stalled late as Coker came from behind to win 6-4.

- Wages was the only Railsplitter to record multiple hits in each game of Wednesday's doubleheader, going 2-for-3 in both ends to extend his on-base streak to 16 games.  Over the past five games, Wages reached base safely in 14 of 21 plate appearances with six hits, two walks and six hit-by-pitches. His 13 hit-by-pitches lead the entire NCAA across all levels. His .563 on-base percentage is also tied with Lenoir-Rhyne's Zach Jacobs for tops in the SAC.

- Augustine went 6-for-17 with a solo home run to move his average to a team-best .356. His six home also lead the team and are already a career high. Augustine has also recorded the most hits (26), doubles (7) and runs scored (26) and has reached base safely at least once in all 21 games.

- Mason Ewers (Kingsport, Tenn.) began the season with a scorching .423 start through the team's first 14 games but has cooled down considerably, going just 3-for-19 since. He led the team in average, hits, RBI and stolen bases through those first 14 games but has since been tied or surpassed in each category.

- Lincoln Memorial scored in the first inning once in the Bellarmine doubleheader and twice in the Coker series but ended up losing all three games. Despite outscoring opponents 25-16 in the first inning thus far, the Railsplitters are just 3-9 in games they have scored in the first. The team has a similar 3-9 record when scoring the game's first run.

- Elliott bounced back from his uncharacteristically rough start at Brevard to pick up his second win of the season. He went the distance for his second career nine-inning complete game and allowed just three runs (two earned) and seven hits. He also struck out eight. In five starts Elliott is 2-2 with a 3.56 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 30.1 innings.

- Dominic Morabito (Vienna, Va.) made just his second career start on the mound for the Railsplitters Saturday against Coker and first of 2017. He tossed three scoreless innings before allowing a two- run homer in the fourth. For the year, Morabito has a 2.20 ERA in 16.1 innings with 20 strikeouts over seven appearances.
 
Notes on the Bears:

- Lenoir-Rhyne lost its third straight home game Wednesday in a nonconference matchup against Belmont Abbey. The Bears led 2-1 through six innings but allowed a three-run home run in the top of the seventh to fall 4-2.

- The Bears lost two of their three matchups at home to No. 24 Catawba over the weekend. Lenoir-Rhyne won Saturday's series opener 6-2. Justin Dean went 4-for-5 with a two-run home run to lead the way offensively, while Thomas St. Clair allowed just one earned run and struck out 16 in going the distance.

- Catawba won the back end of Saturday's doubleheader 12-7 and again the next day 1-0. Lenoir-Rhyne did not have a lead at any point in the two games. Catawba scored the lone run of Sunday's pitching duel on a wild pitch in the top of the eighth inning.

- Lenoir-Rhyne boasts four of the SAC's top ten hitters in Marcus Shoemaker (.488, 1^st), Zach Jacobs (.448, 3^rd), Dean (.410, 6^th) and Alex Reynolds (.378, 10^th). Shoemaker's 41 hits also lead the conference, while his 10 doubles are tied for the most in the conference.

- Reynolds leads the team with 24 RBI, while Jacobs and David Newcomer are one behind at 23. All three rank in the top 10 in the conference.

- Dean's 29 runs scored are one behind Catawba's Luke Setzer for the SAC lead. Shoemaker is currently in third place with 27, while Reynolds' 25 ranks sixth.

- St. Clair's performance earned him the NCBWA NCAA Division II Southeast Region Pitcher of the Week for the second straight week. He has thrown two straight complete games, striking out 33 and allowing just one earned run. St. Clair is 6-0 on the year with a 1.29 earned run average and leads the nation with 62 strikeouts.
 
- St. Clair set the school's single-season record with 91 strikeouts during the 2015 season and has been named the AstroTurf South Atlantic Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week three of the last four weeks.

- The Bears scored a program –record 32 runs in their 32-2 thrashing of Emmanuel February 12. Emmanuel scored its two runs in the top of the first before Lenoir-Rhyne scored 32 unanswered runs over the next five innings. Reynolds and Corbin Watson each hit a three-run homer as part of five-RBI efforts. Reynolds also scored five run. Shoemaker reached base in all four plate appearances, going 3-for-3 with a walk, three RBI and three runs scored. Bears batters combined for 26 hits and walked 16 times.
 
Series History:

- The Railsplitters are 20-13 all-time against the Bears, going 7-6 in Hickory and 13-7 in Harrogate.

- Last year, Lenoir-Rhyne snapped Lincoln Memorial's six-game winning streak in the series and took two of matchups in Harrogate. However, the Railsplitters tagged St. Clair for five runs (four earned) in the team's 11-2 win. Clark broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the fifth with a grand slam as part of a five-RBI performance.

- Despite losing last year's series, Lincoln Memorial is 14-5 over the past 19 matchups dating back to 2010.  This includes a sweep of No. 23 Lenoir-Rhyne in Hickory in 2015.

- St. Clair is 0-2 in two starts against the Railsplitters. He has allowed five runs (four earned) in 4.1 innings in both starts with 12 hits and seven walks combined. The strikeout artist has also only punched out five Railsplitters between the two starts.