WINGATE, N.C. – A six-run bottom of the first inning doomed the Lincoln Memorial University baseball team (10-3, 0-1 SAC) as No. 16 Wingate (11-2, 1-0 SAC) went on to beat the Railsplitters 8-4 in Friday evening's South Atlantic Conference opener for both teams. The loss snapped Lincoln Memorial's nine-game win streak.
A leadoff single followed by a double plated Wingate's first run. Two Bulldog home runs in the inning then did most of the damage. Tanner Forry's three-run shot off LMU starter
Ethan Elliott put the Bulldogs ahead 4-0 after just 12 pitches. Micah Goodwin added a solo shot two batters later. The Railsplitters committed three errors in the frame which led to another run.
Hits were tied at 10, but five of Wingate's came in that first inning. Elliott allowed just three hits over the next 4.1 innings and held the Bulldogs scoreless for the rest of his outing. The lefty picked up his first loss of the year and finished the night with six runs allowed (five earned) in 5.1 innings. Elliott walked two and struck out seven.
Hunter Morgan held the Railsplitters to three earned runs and seven hits over seven innings. The righty struck out six and didn't walk a batter as he improved to 2-0.
Lincoln Memorial pushed its first runs across in the fourth inning.
Logan Augustine led off with a double to left center, and
Tyler Adams followed with an RBI single up the middle.
Muta Crusoe later drove in Adams with a sacrifice fly.
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Timmy Wages single plated another Railsplitter run in the sixth.
Bradley Brown extended Wingate's lead to 8-3 in the bottom of the seventh with a two-run homer off
Chase Randolph.
Adams finished 3-for-4 with a solo homer in the ninth—his first of the year. The shortstop also doubled, scored three of the team's four runs and drove in two. Wages and
Seth Hunt each went 2-for-4.
Quick Hits:
- LMU falls to 0-11 all-time at Wingate.
- Augustine extended his on-base streak to 39 with a fourth-inning double.
- The Railsplitters totaled at least 10 hits for the ninth time in 13 games.
