HICKORY, N.C. – Winners of five straight games, the Railsplitters will look to keep it rolling this weekend when they play their third South Atlantic Conference road series of the season with a trip to Hickory, N.C., to face the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears. 
 
Lincoln Memorial (16-8, 7-2 SAC) swept its second conference series in three tries this past weekend with a three-game sweep at Carson-Newman, and followed that up with a hard-fought 7-6 win over Virginia-Wise on Tuesday. The Railsplitters enter the weekend as winners in 10 of their last 12 games and in second place in the SAC standings. 
 
Lenoir-Rhyne (11-12, 4-5 SAC) is also riding high after overpowering Queens in a three-game sweep last weekend in Charlotte, N.C. The Bears also defeated Benedict 8-2 on Wednesday to carry a four-game winning streak into Friday's series opener against the Railsplitters. 
 
The Railsplitters and Bears will start their series at 6 p.m. on Friday at the Lenoir-Rhyne University Baseball Field before wrapping things up with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. 
 
Schedule / Game Day Links 
 
Friday, March 15 at Lenoir-Rhyne – 6pm 
Live Stats
Video 
 
Saturday, March 16 at Lenoir-Rhyne – 1pm
Live Stats 
 
Saturday, March 16 at Lenoir-Rhyne – 4pm 
Live Stats
 
Quick Hits 
 
- The Railsplitters completely dominated their series at Carson-Newman, outscoring the Eagles 34-14 in the three games to improve to 14-1 in their last 15 games against their in-state rivals. Lincoln Memorial grinded out a 4-3 win in game two, but ran away with 14-5 and 16-6 victories in games one and three in Jefferson City, Tenn. 
 
- Seth Hunt drew all the headlines from the weekend, earning SAC AstroTurf Player of the Week and NCBWA Southeast Region Player of the Week status after going 6-for-14 at the plate with three home runs, seven runs, one double and eight RBI in that series alone. 
 
- Lincoln Memorial had its hands full against Virginia-Wise on Tuesday at Lamar Hennon Field. The Railsplitters went into the bottom of the eighth inning trailing 6-4 until Chris Salvey hit a solo home run – his second of the game – and Henry Moore belted the go-ahead, two-run home run to lead to a 7-6 win. 
 
- Dalton Dedas has been the hottest hitter for the Railsplitters of late, going a scorching 10-for-18 at the plate in his last four games with multiple hits in all four appearances. He went 3-for-4 with a run scored against Virginia-Wise and now ranks second on the team with a .389 batting average. 
 
- Nate Stinson has also been on an absolute tear at the plate with multiple hits in five straight games. Over that span, the junior is a combined 12-for-22 with five runs, two doubles, one home run and 10 RBI. 
 
- The Railsplitters' bullpen has been a major source of strength this season, as that group is led by the dependable quartet of Devin Morris, Hudson Widrig, Matt Walczak and Patrick Queener. Morris has thrown 18.1 innings, striking out 20 with a 2.95 ERA over that span. Widrig has allowed less than a hit per inning in 17 innings of work, while Walczak has a 1.80 ERA in six appearances. Queener had his best outing of the season against Virginia-Wise, allowing just two hits and two runs in four innings of relief. 
 
- Right-hander Matt Mullenbach has strung together three straight quality starts. In game two against Carson-Newman, the senior picked up his second win after allowing just three hits and two earned runs in six-plus inning. The hard-thrower has struck out at least seven batters in three consecutive outings. 
 
- The Railsplitters claim the second-best fielding percentage in the SAC with a .974 mark. Only Catawba has committed fewer errors than Lincoln Memorial, which has only 22 in 24 games. 
 
- Alex Allen and Tyler Adams have both reached base in 11 consecutive games. Stinson owns far and away the longest such streak on the team, as he has reached in all 24 games this season, though Dedas leads the team with a .507 on-base percentage. 
 
Notes on Lenoir-Rhyne 
 
- After being swept by Newberry and dropping two of three against Anderson, the Bears built some momentum in SAC play this past weekend by sweeping Queens by scores of 4-1, 9-5 and 12-4. That helped Lenoir-Rhyne move to ninth in the conference standings. 
 
- In its 8-2 win over Benedict on Wednesday, Clayton Jeffries went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a walk, while Aaron Stamper hit a home run. Seven different players contributed at least one hit for the Bears, who outhit their opposition 10-4 total. 
 
- Lenoir-Rhyne has been a middle-of-the-road offense with a .284 batting average, .387 on-base percentage and .408 slugging percentage. The Bears have a bit of pop, ranking second in the league with 59 doubles and fourth in extra-base hits with 72, though only 10 of those knocks have left the park. 
 
- Jeffries leads the Bears' offense with 33 hits and a .379 average. The senior has six doubles and 23 RBI with a .456 on-base percentage. 
 
- Jeffries is one of only five players with at least 40 plate appearances for Lenoir-Rhyne hitting above .300 along with Grant Fuller (.342), Caleb Beatty (.320), Matthew Freeman (.357) and Stamper (.311). Of that group, Fuller is the only one with over 60 at-bats this season, as the senior has compiled a team-high eight doubles. 
 
- The L-R pitching staff ranks fourth in the SAC in batting average against at .255, though the team is seventh in ERA with a 5.28 mark. 
 
- The Railsplitters are likely to face the trio of Alex Shirazi, Paul Hall and Jake Conroy in some order this weekend. Shirazi is 1-2 with a 3.41 ERA and 34 strikeouts across 34.1 innings, Hall is 3-2 with a 5.14 ERA and 37 strikeouts in just 28 innings, and Conroy is 1-2 as well with a 6.23 ERA and 29 whiffs in 26 innings. 
 
- L-R starting pitcher John Grigg was named to the preseason All-SAC first team, but has yet to make an appearance this season. First baseman Alex Reynolds was named to the second team, but has hit just .206 in 19 appearances and 16 starts. 
 
- Lenoir-Rhyne has actually been much better on the road than at home this season, posting a 7-5 road record compared to a 4-7 mark in Hickory. 
 
Series History
 
- The Railsplitters are 25-14 all-time against Lenoir-Rhyne and have won 12 of the last 15 meetings overall. 
 
- Lincoln Memorial took two of three from the Bears in last season's series at Lamar Hennon Field, winning games one and two 12-2 and 6-4 before falling in the finale 10-5. 
 
- The Railsplitters are 10-6 all-time in Hickory. They swept the series there in 2017 by scores of 7-4, 17-10 and 8-3.