HARROGATE, Tenn. – Ethan Elliott was masterful and the offense sizzled as the Railsplitters opened their three-game South Atlantic Conference series against Wingate with a dominant 13-3 win on Friday evening at Lamar Hennon Field. 
 
Elliott allowed a first-inning run, but shut the Bulldogs (24-13, 9-7 SAC) down for the next six innings, allowing just six hits total and one walk while striking out 12 to improve to 8-2 on the season. Meanwhile, the LMU (26-12, 13-3 SAC) offense out-hit Wingate 16-7, scattered six extra-base knocks and scored 13 unanswered runs from the bottom of the first through the seventh to snap a four-game losing streak in the series. 
 
Five different players had multiple hits for the Railsplitters. Brent Richey went 2-for-5 with a three-run home run, finishing with five RBI total and three runs scored. Nate Stinson doubled twice and drove in a pair of runs, while Seth Hunt set the table at the top of the order with a 3-for-5 day that included two runs scored. Tanner Head and Marco Rios added two hits apiece while combining for three RBI and two extra-base hits out of the eight and nine hole in the lineup. 
 
The Bulldogs struck first in the top of the first when Justin Guy led off the game with a double off the wall in left field and scored on McCann Mellett's double two batters later. 
 
However, the Railsplitters took the lead for good with a four-run bottom half of the first and never let off the gas after that. 
 
Hunt got Lincoln Memorial started with a single, Dalton Dedas was hit by a pitch and Chris Salvey walked to load the bases. An RBI groundout from Stinson put the first run of the board before Richey connected on a no-doubt, three-run blast to left center to make it 4-1. 
 
Dedas' sac fly tacked on another run in the bottom of the second, while the Railsplitters hung three more runs on the board in the third inning and four more in the fourth frame. 
 
After a double from Stinson and a walk was issued to Richey, Head doubled home both runners in the third before scoring in the next at-bat on a triple to right field from Rios. In the fourth, Lincoln Memorial received three straight run-scoring hits from Stinson (RBI double), Richey (two-run triple) and Will Reddick (RBI single) to extend the lead to 12-1. 
 
Elliott struck out the side in both the fifth and sixth innings to keep the Railsplitters in control, while Salvey singled in a run with two outs in the seventh to extend the lead to 13-1. 
 
After a six-inning scoring drought, the Bulldogs got back on the board in the top of the eighth when Andrew Llewellyn hit a two-run homer off reliever Jack Ryan, but that was the extent of the Wingate offensive output. 
 
The Railsplitters finished 6-for-16 at the plate with two outs and 7-for-16 with runners in scoring position. By contrast, Wingate was just 1-for-9 in RBI situations and with two outs. 
 
Lincoln Memorial and Wingate will complete their series with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m.