HARROGATE, Tenn. – Dalton Dedas' walk-off single with two out in the bottom of the ninth handed the Lincoln Memorial University baseball team (19-9, 6-7 SAC) a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Carson-Newman (17-11, 9-4 SAC) to open a three-game South Atlantic Conference series Friday evening at Lamar Hennon Field.
 
Dedas finished 2-for-4, scored the tying run and drove in the game winner.
 
The game featured a duel between the two conference strikeout leaders in Ethan Elliott and Dillon Cate. Elliott carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and went the full nine innings with a career high-tying 12 strikeouts—eight of which were looking. He only faced one batter over the minimum and improved to 4-2 on the year with only one earned run allowed on two hits.
 
Elliott's only blemishes were a hit batter in the fifth that was erased on a double play, a leadoff infield single in the seventh that was later caught stealing and solo home run in the eighth.
 
Cate allowed just one earned run in 7.2 innings and struck out seven. The righty held LMU to three singles and issued three free passes.
 
The two aces traded scoreless innings until Tyler Thompson's solo homer down the left field line in the top of the eighth put Cate in line for the win. He allowed a one-out Dedas single in the bottom half of the frame before retiring the second out. Will Gardner replaced Cate and allowed a single to Will Reddick that advanced Dedas to third. A passed ball then allowed the equalizer to cross.
 
After Elliott tossed a perfect top of the ninth, Gardner got two quick outs in the bottom half. Joe Stucky and Peyton Sawyer singled to right to set up Dedas' walk-off base hit through the middle.
 
Six of LMU's seven hits came with two outs.
 
The two teams will conclude their series Sunday back at Lamar Hennon Field with a nine-inning game at 1 p.m. followed by a seven-inning affair. The doubleheader was pushed back to a day due to expected inclement weather on Saturday.