HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Railsplitters will close out the regular season with one of the biggest series in program history as the first-place and No. 3 nationally-ranked Newberry Wolves pay a visit to Lamar Hennon Field for a three-game set to decide the South Atlantic Conference regular-season title.
Lincoln Memorial (31-13, 17-4 SAC) went 2-1 last weekend at Tusculum to remain in second place in the SAC standings and put itself in position to claim the first conference regular-season championship in program history. Newberry (36-11, 19-2 SAC), meanwhile, pulled off a three-game sweep at nationally-ranked Catawba – winners of six straight conference titles – to stay atop the SAC standings.
The Railsplitters will need a three-game sweep of Newberry to win the outright SAC regular-season title, while one win would give the Wolves their first SAC title of any kind since winning the conference tournament in 1999.
In addition to the massive implications involved, Lincoln Memorial will celebrate Senior Day before Saturday's doubleheader, honoring 12 student-athletes before their final games at Lamar Hennon Field.
Schedule / Game Day Links
Friday, April 12 vs. Newberry – 4 p.m.
Live Stats
Saturday, April 13 vs. Newberry – 1 p.m.
Live Stats
Video
Saturday, April 13 vs. Newberry – 4 p.m.
Live Stats
Video
Quick Hits
- On Tuesday, the Railsplitters fell into an 8-1 hole against in-state rivals King, but scored nine unanswered runs to rally for a 10-8 victory at Lamar Hennon Field. Five relief pitchers combined to hold King to just two hits and one run over the final 7.1 innings, while
Seth Hunt and
Henry Moore both homered.
Will Reddick drove in three runs, including the two with a go-ahead double in the fifth.
- Hunt's leadoff solo home run in the bottom of the first inning gave the senior Knoxville, Tenn., native sole possession of the career hits record at Lincoln Memorial with the 241st knock of his career. That number surpassed
Logan Augustine, who racked up that mark from 2015-18.
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Ethan Elliott aims to win his seventh consecutive start and notch the third 10-win season of his career when he takes the mound on Friday evening. The lefty was as dominant as ever in last weekend's 5-0 triumph over Tusculum, as he struck out 16 and allowed only four singles without a walk in the complete-game shutout to move to 9-2 on the season.
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Nate Stinson and
Brent Richey are the two hottest hitters going for the Railsplitters with hitting streaks of 13 and 12, respectively. Stinson has multiple hits in six of his last seven games, including a 3-for-3 performance against King, to lift his average to .412, which ranks third in the SAC. Richey has multiple hits in seven of his last nine games, and is batting .323 this season.
- The Railsplitters lead the SAC in batting average (.320), on-base percentage (.425) and slugging percentage (.492). Lincoln Memorial has also accounted for a league-leading 330 RBI this season.
- Hunt and
Tyler Adams have reached base in 10 consecutive games. Adams is hitting .349 this season but has gone hitless in three of the last four games aside from a 3-for-4 performance with five RBI in game two at Tusculum. Hunt is batting .364 with 64 hits, which trails only Stinson's 70 for the team lead.
- Freshman game-two starter
Eli Wright turned in his best start of the season in the Railsplitters' 8-5 win at Tusculum, going a career-high 6.2 innings while allowing just five hits and two earned runs to move to 5-0 on the season.
Notes on Newberry
- The Wolves' only two SAC losses this season came in the series opener against Coker on March 8 and the series finale against Carson-Newman on April 6. Aside from that, Newberry has swept Catawba, Wingate, Anderson, Mars Hill and Lenoir-Rhyne.
- Small ball is the name of the game for the Wolves, who lead the SAC in fewest strikeouts, sacrifice flies, sacrifice hits and stolen bases while ranking second behind only the Railsplitters in batting average at .311. In SAC play, Newberry is hitting a league-best .328. They are ranked first in the league in runs with 378 but last in home runs with only 11, a total that LMU slugger
Chris Salvey has amassed by himself.
- The Newberry pitching staff has been dominant in SAC play, posting a league-leading 3.91 earned run average and .250 batting average against.
- Senior Danton Hyman paces the Newberry attack offensively with a SAC-leading 77 hits. He is batting .410 with 14 doubles, five triples, 42 RBI, 28 walks and only 14 strikeouts. Hyman has also racked up 20 steals.
- Dalton Lansdowne and Zane Tarrance has 51 and 50 hits, respectively, and have also combined for 35 steals. Lansdowne is hitting .329 with 5 doubles and 31 RBI, while Tarrance has only five extra-base hits with 27 RBI.
- Freshman Nick Butler has also been a solid contributor with a .336 average, 13 doubles, three triples and 23 RBI. Tyler White leads the Wolves with two homers to go along with nine doubles, 31 RBI and a .327 average.
- The Railsplitters will face the trio of Josh Bookbinder, Charlie Fessler and Tomas Sorcia, Jr. on the mound. Freshman Bookbinder has produced an 8-1 record with a 3.89 ERA and 53 strikeouts over 69.1 innings, while Fessler is 6-3 with a 3.68 ERA and 50 strikeouts over 63.2 innings. Sorcia, Jr. is a perfect 6-0 with a 4.76 ERA over 56.2 innings.
- Junior lefty Quinton Driggers is the go-to relief pitcher for the Wolves with 23 appearances this season. Over that span, Driggers is 7-0 with five saves, a 1.47 ERA and 74 strikeouts in just 61.1 innings of work.
- The Railsplitters lead the SAC in fielding percentage with a .978 clip, but Newberry is just off that pace, ranking third at .969.
Series History
- Lincoln Memorial is 24-14 all-time against Newberry, including a 12-5 mark at Lamar Hennon Field.
- The Wolves won two of three against the Railsplitters last season in Newberry, S.C. LMU took game one 3-2, but fell in the final two games 11-1 and 2-0.
- The Railsplitters have won the last four in the series in Harrogate, including a three-game sweep there in 2017 that saw the two teams combine for 61 runs.
