SALISBURY, N.C. –The Lincoln Memorial University won the first of a three-game series at league-leading Catawba (23-19, 16-6 SAC), 6-3, on Friday evening at Newman Park. The Railsplitters (26-17, 11-11 SAC) were powered by three home runs and an Ethan Elliott complete game.
 
Elliott bounced back from a rough start last Friday at Coker to strike out 11 Indians over 9.0 innings and improve to 6-3. The junior lefty surrendered three earned runs, nine hits and a walk across 126 pitches. He has now racked up a double-digit strikeout total in six of 10 starts and continues to lead the SAC in ERA, strikeouts and innings pitched.
 
Seth Hunt, Timmy Wages and Chris Salvey went deep for LMU as the Railsplitters outhit Catawba 11-9. Salved finished 3-for-5 while Will Reddick and Dalton Dedas notched two hits apiece.
 
Cameron Morrison went 3-for-4 off Elliott while Luke Setzer and Jackson Raper finished 2-for-4. Raper drove in two of the Indians' runs on a two-run double. Though the lineup was stacked entirely with right-handed batters, eight Catawba starters struck out at least once.
 
Riley Myers started opposite Elliott and allowed all six runs, though only three were earned. The righty fell to 2-5 with nine hits allowed in 4.2 innings, though he didn't walk anyone and struck out five. 
 
The Railsplitters needed only three batters to take a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Reddick drove a one-out single up the middle, and Tyler Adams followed with an RBI double down the left field line to plate the first run of the game.
 
Hunt blasted his first home run of the year—a three-run shot to left—to give the Railsplitters a 4-0 lead with two outs in the second inning. Joe Stucky singled, and Dedas reached on a one-out error to set up the homer.
 
Solo shots by Timmy Wages in the third and Chris Salvey in the fifth expanded the LMU advantage to 6-0.
 
Catawba scratched across its first run in the bottom of the fifth on a Lee Poteat fielder's choice to third base following a one-out walk and single. The Indians added two more runs on Raper's double down the left field line the following inning.
 
The two teams return to the field tomorrow afternoon with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.