HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lincoln Memorial University baseball team (9-2) completed its three-game sweep of the Lake Erie Storm (0-3) and extended its win streak to eight games with a 10-6 victory Monday afternoon at the new Lamar Hennon Field.
Logan Augustine reached base in all five plate appearances for the second time in the series and finished 2-for-2 with a pair of walks and stolen bases, one run scored and an RBI triple. Tyler Adams and Nate Stinson went 2-for-4 with two RBI apiece. Adams also scored twice.
Lake Erie outhit LMU 12-11, though Railsplitter batters drew seven walks and were hit four times. Lincoln Memorial stole a season-high five bases and hit .400 (6-for-15) with runners in scoring position.
Trace Peterson did most of Lake Erie's damage offensively by going 3-for-4 with an RBI double and solo home run. The designated hitter also scored twice. Caleb Walled and Brady Minetti had two hits apiece.
LMU did most of its damage offensively in the first two innings as the Railsplitters jumped out to a 6-0 lead. Eight of Lincoln Memorial's starting nine reached safely at least once through those first two innings. Five of those runs crossed in the first. Timmy Wages drew a bases-loaded walk to open the scoring, and Stinson and Mason Ewers later added back-to-back two-run singles. An Adams sacrifice fly in the second inning plated the team's sixth run.
Staked to the early lead, Evan Porter held Lake Erie scoreless and only allowed a single through four innings in his first LMU start on the mound. The Freshman righty ran into trouble in the fifth and allowed two runs on three hits and a walk before departing one out shy of earning his first career victory. Porter allowed just the two earned runs in 4.2 innings and struck out five.
Peterson doubled in Lake Erie's first run and later scored on a passed ball.
Chase Randolph struck out the final batter of the fifth and allowed a solo Peterson home run through 2.1 innings to pick up his second relief win in less than a week.
Lincoln Memorial added three more runs in the sixth on an Adams RBI double down the right field line and two wild pitches. Peterson's home run in the top of seventh made the score 9-3, but Augustine tripled in a run in the bottom half to get the run back.
The Storm scored the final three runs on a seventh-inning Rees Rua double and back-to-back RBI singles from Brady Minetti and Nathan Birtley in the ninth. Rua grounded out to the pitcher Matt Walczak with the bases loaded to end the game.
Quick Hits
- LMU has scored at least 10 runs six times during its eight-game win streak. The Railsplitters are averaging 14.4 runs per game over the streak and have outscored opponents 115-28.
- Augustine reached base for the 37th straight game dating back to last season. The first baseman went 5-for-6 in the series and reached base safely in 12 of 13 plate appearances. He also stole six bases.
- The Railsplitters were outhit for the first time since their season-opening game at USC Aiken.
