TIGERVILLE, S.C. – Less than 24 hours after putting the Railsplitters on the brink of elimination, the North Greenville Crusaders rolled to an 8-3 victory to bring the 2019 season to an end for Lincoln Memorial at the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional on Saturday evening in Tigerville, S.C. 
 
After shutting out the Railsplitters 7-0 on Friday night, the formula was nearly identical for North Greenville on Saturday, as the Crusader pitching staff limited Lincoln Memorial to just five hits total without an extra-base hit. Meanwhile, NGU racked up 12 hits with five extra-base knocks and scored two runs in the first and five more in the third to power the victory. 
 
With the loss, the Railsplitters cap the season with a 34-19 overall record, which was marred by a 2-6 mark over their final eight games. North Greenville advances to the Southeast Super Regional after eliminating Lincoln Memorial, improves to 45-9 overall and extends its winning streak to 14 games. 
 
Chris Salvey was the only LMU player with multiple hits in the game, going 2-for4 with a pair of singles. Tanner Head, Henry Moore and Marco Rios contributed the only other hits of the game for the Railsplitters, who left just four runners on base in the contest. 
 
Freshman Eli Wright endured a rough outing for the Railsplitters, lasting just 2.1 innings before giving way to a quartet of relievers. The righty allowed five hits and five earned runs while recording only seven outs. Devin Morris was tagged for six hits and three earned runs in 3.2 innings of relief, while Joe Bobiak, Ben Wiley and Matt Walczak combined to allow just one hit without a run over the final two frames. 
 
The Railsplitters took the lead in the top of the first inning as Seth Hunt was hit by a pitch to lead things off, Nate Stinson walked and Salvey singled through the left side to load the bases with no outs. Lincoln Memorial was able to muster just one run despite that chance, though, as Hunt scored on a 6-4-3 double play before Will Reddick flew out. 
 
The 1-0 LMU lead was short-lived as North Greenville took the lead for good in the bottom half the first with a two-run rally. Jeremy Whitehead led off with a double and scored in the very next at-bat on a double from Utah Jones. A single from John Michael Faile that was paired with an error in right then allowed Jones to score to make it a 2-1 game. 
 
After a quiet second inning for both teams, the Crusaders put the game out of reach in the bottom of the third when they brought 10 batters to the plate, racked up four hits and took advantage of an error to plate five runs. 
 
Jones singled in a run to get the scoring started before Faile belted a two-run homer to extend the lead to 5-1 and force Wright's exit from the game. A fielding error at first base put the Crusaders back in business before a single from Jared Williams, a walk by Lex Tuten and a two-run single from Josh Senter made it a commanding 7-1 game. 
 
North Greenville tacked on its final run of the game in the bottom of the fourth on a two-out, RBI double from Adam Sasser. 
 
After the first inning, the Railsplitters went absolutely quiet offensively. In innings two through eight, Lincoln Memorial accounted for just three base runners total and went down in order four times. 
 
The Railsplitters snapped a string of 14 straight retired by the NGU pitching staff when pinch hitter Alex Allen reached via an error with one out in the top of the ninth. That sparked the final, miniature rally of the game for Lincoln Memorial as Reddick walked and Head singled to load the bases. A wild pitch pushed a run across for the Railsplitters and trimmed the deficit to 8-2, before a groundout from Moore scored the final run of the game.
 
Jones paced the offensive attack for North Greenville with a 4-for-5 day that included two RBI and two doubles. Whitehead and Faile added two hits apiece, while four other players added a single hit in the contest. 
 
Ethan Garner picked up the win after allowing just four hits and one run over four innings of work, moving to 6-1 on the season. A trio of relievers combined to allowed just one hits and two unearned runs over the final five innings.