KODAK, Tenn. – Coming off its best regular season finish in program history, Lincoln Memorial (29-17, 18-6 SAC) opens SAC Championship play Friday at 3:45 p.m. at Smokies Stadium. As the No. 2 seed, the Railsplitters must wait to find out their first opponent in the double-elimination tournament until after Thursday's slate of opening round games. The team will face the highest-seeded winner, which will be either Tusculum, Coker or Carson-Newman.
Lincoln Memorial will play Tusculum if the No. 5 Pioneers take care of business against No. 8 Wingate. If Wingate wins, the Railsplitters will play the winner of the No. 6 Coker and No. 7 Carson-Newman matchup. Lincoln Memorial won two of three meetings at Tusculum and swept Carson-Newman at home. The team's only SAC series loss of the season came at home to Coker to open conference play.
"We've seen them, but we're not concentrating too much on our opponents right now," head baseball coach
Jeff Sziksai said. "We're more focused at trying to get better at practice this week and trying to apply that to whoever we play on Friday."
The Railsplitters boast three All-SAC first team selections that helped the team score 391 runs during the regular season, which was the sixth-best total in the country.
Logan Augustine (Urbandale, Iowa) led the way with 62 runs scored, which ranked second nationally. The junior also led the team with a .386 average and 10 stolen bases. Wages matched Augustine's 11 home runs for the team lead and drove in 57 runs, which ranked second in the conference and tied for ninth nationally. The senior first baseman also led the conference with a .513 on-base percentage. Adams, a freshman, caught fire late in the year. He had a 15-game hit streak snapped in the final game of the season at Anderson but batted .481 during the streak with four home runs and 18 RBI.
The trio was aided by All-SAC second team selection
Eric Kalman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and All-SAC honorable mentions
Russell Clark (Wexford, Pa.) and
Mason Ewers (Kingsport, Tenn.).
Seth Hunt (Knoxville, Tenn.) and
Muta Crusoe (Bellwood, Ill.) also enjoyed breakout performances as they solidified starting jobs at second base and right field, respectively.
Prior to being shut out Saturday, the Railsplitter offense had racked up double digit run totals in seven straight games and at least 11 hits in nine of its previous ten.
"It starts with swinging at strikes and getting good pitches to hit," Szkisai said. "I think we have been doing that well and haven't been going after pitches outside the zone. We've been controlling the strike zone well. That's where it starts for any team that wants to be successful."
Pitching has also emerged as a strength for the Railsplitters, particularly during SAC play. Lincoln Memorial's 4.11 ERA in conference play was the best mark in the league, and the team also issued the fewest walks in league play.
Brandon Jean (Franklin, Tenn.) emerged as the team's ace and was named to the All-SAC second team. Lincoln Memorial won nine of the senior's final ten starts, including his final seven. Jean went 7-1 during that span and has won his past six decisions. His six SAC wins led the conference, and his 3.71 ERA in league play was ninth overall and fifth among full-time starting pitchers. Jean had a penchant for outdueling some of the conference's top pitchers, as he picked up the win in starts against all three All-SAC first-team pitchers: Ethan Carpenter, Zack Kelly and SAC Pitcher of the Year Thomas St. Clair.
Dominic Morabito (Vienna, Va.) was an All-SAC honorable mention pick. He was used as both a starter and reliever and appeared in a SAC-high 16 conference games. His 3.35 ERA ranked sixth overall in the conference, while his 58 strikeouts were fourth and 11.43 strikeouts per nine innings ranked third.
Ethan Elliott (Knoxville, Tenn.), who went 10-2 in 2016 and won SAC Freshman of the Year, took a bit of a step back this season but is coming off one of his best starts of 2017. The lefty allowed just a single earned run in seven innings of work at Anderson and struck out seven. Elliott finished 4-3 overall, but the Railsplitters won six of his final eight starts, in which the sophomore went 3-1.
Cody Hinson (Taylor Ridge, Ill.) and
Chase Randolph (Harriman, Tenn.) also carried a large work load out of the bullpen. Hinson ranked second in the SAC in appearances behind Morabito with 15, and Randolph was third with 14. Hinson's 27 total appearances rank third nationally and are tied for the second-most in program history.
"It's the first time our program is leading the league in ERA in conference play," Sziksai said. "That's a testament to our pitching staff and Coach [Josh] Epstein."
Lincoln Memorial won its only SAC Championship in 2013 and defeated Newberry in its opening-round matchup in 2014 but have lost all six games in the conference tournament since. In 2016, the Railsplitters were shut down 3-0 by Tusculum and National Pitcher of the Year Placido Torres and fell 9-8 to Catawba in extra innings. Catawba, who earned the No. 1 seed for the fifth consecutive year, has ended Lincoln Memorial's season in each of the past three tournaments and has accounted for all five of the team's tournament eliminations dating back to 2010.
"It'll be a singular game focus," Sziksai said. "It'll be whatever it takes to win this one, and then if we do, we'll adjust, and if we don't we'll adjust and go from there."
The Railsplitters had their ten-game overall and nine-game conference win streak snapped in Saturday's regular season finale at Anderson, but the team enter the tournament winners of 15 of its past 18 conference games and overall.
"You want to be playing good baseball coming into the tournament, and I think we put ourselves in that position," Sziksai said. "All things go out the window in the tournament, though. We just have to do what we've done all year, which is throw strikes, make routine plays and get timely hits. That's been the equation for everyone, but that's been our equation lately. That's winning baseball, and we need to continue to do that Friday."
