MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – Timmy Wages (Molin, Ill.) hit a sac fly in the bottom of the ninth to score
Seth Hunt (Knoxville, Tenn.) as Lincoln Memorial (34-18) eliminated Georgia College (35-15) 7-6 in walk-off fashion for its first ever NCAA Southeast Regional victory on Friday at Scarborough Field. The seventh-seeded Railsplitters survive another day in the double-elimination tournament to face the loser of Friday afternoon's matchup between top-seeded and host Mount Olive and fifth-seeded UNC Pembroke Saturday at 11 a.m.
Wages also hit a two-run homer earlier in the game as part of a 2-for-3, three-RBI day. With the three runs driven in, Wages set a new program record with 66 RBI, topping Allen Butler's 63 from the 1996 season.
Logan Augustine (Urbandale, Iowa) and
Mason Ewers (Kingsport, Tenn.) each went 2-for-4, and Hunt finished 2-for-5. Augustine scored a pair of runs to become the first player in program history to cross the plate 70 times in a season.
Ethan Elliott (Knoxville, Tenn.) held the high-powered Bobcat offense scoreless through the first six innings as Lincoln Memorial built a 6-0 lead. The lefty finished his day allowing four runs (two earned) in 7.1 innings and striking out four.
Dominic Morabito (Vienna, Va.) picked up the win after blowing the save in the top of the ninth. The pitching staff was able to overcome some shaky defense as the team committed four errors, including two by
Tyler Adams (Woodstock, Ga.).
Georgia College, the national leader in both hits and batting average, scattered 12 hits but batted just 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position. Brandon Purcell led the way with a 3-for-5, three-RBI performance. He tripled in two runs in the eighth and tied the game at six with a single in the ninth. Nate Schmal went 2-for-3, while Cal Gentry and Brandon Benson finished 2-for-5.
Lincoln Memorial scored three times in both the fourth and fifth inning to take a 6-0 lead. The Railsplitters opened the fourth with three straight hits—Augustine led off the frame with a double, and
Russell Clark (Wexford, Pa.) singled him in. Wages then launched his two-run homer to left.
Nate Stinson (Jonesboro, Ga.) doubled to lead off the next frame and scored two batters later on a single by Ewers. Following a pitching change, Augustine singled and Clark walked to load the bases. A wild pitch then allowed Ewers to score. Wages walked to again load the bases, and
Eric Kalman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) grounded out to bring in the team's sixth run.
Georgia College scored six runs over the final three innings to tie the game. Phillip Stiles singled in the team's first run in the seventh. Purcell plated two more runs in the eighth to knock Elliott from the game. Purcell later scored on a groundout.
Benson doubled in a run off Morabito in the ninth to put the Bobcats within a run. Purcell's two-out single up the middle three batters later completed the comeback.
Hunt led off the bottom of the ninth with a single and advanced to second on an Ewers sac but. Following walks to Augustine and Clark to load the bases, Wages lifted a ball deep enough in left center to allow Hunt to cross the plate for the game-winning run.
Lincoln Memorial has never faced UNC Pembroke and lost its only meeting to Mount Olive 9-3 in the 2013 NCAA Southeast Regional.
