HARROGATE, Tenn. – Despite going down a run in the first, the Lincoln Memorial University baseball program exploded for a four-run second inning en route to a commanding 11-1 victory over Kentucky Wesleyan on Friday afternoon.
 
Junior Patrick Queener got the start on the mound for the Railsplitters, faced trouble early giving up a run in the first. The Brentwood, Tennessee native took a breath and got out of trouble, then pitched four scoreless innings. Queener finished the night with nine strikeouts in 18 batters faced.
 
Lincoln Memorial quickly overcame the deficit on back-to-back home runs from Andrew Keene and Sam Mast. The middle of the LMU lineup continued to increase the offensive production as Jaeger Keeline got in the action with a run after tagging up on a ground out.
 
A quick third inning on both sides of the plate allowed the fourth inning to roll up with Queener and crew going straight up, straight down to allow the Blue and Gray bats to go to work.
 
The Panthers were able to get two quick outs before Chris Hall took a walk, getting a runner on. Cameron Bowen then tallied an RBI double with Carson Boles landing an RBI single to score Bowen. Boles went onto steal second with Ryan Kurth up at the plate. Kurth then doubled to the outfield wall, bringing in Boles in the process to give the Railsplitters a 7-1 lead after four innings.
 
Allowing just one walk in the fifth, Queener pitched another flawless inning picking up a strikeout and forcing the Panthers' offense into two groundouts.
 
The LMU offense did not slow down in the fifth as Kasten Harvey recorded a single to get things started in the frame. A Colin Goda walk gave the Railsplitters runners on two bases and just two batters later, Cameron Bown singled with Harvey and Goda reaching home plate, bringing the Splitter lead to 9-1.
 
A calm and cool sixth inning allowed runners to get on in both sides of the frame, but the pitching staffs got both programs out of the jams and into the home stretch of the game.
 
Colin Murphy recorded his first appearance for the Railsplitters as the Louisville, Kentucky native tossed a flawless inning getting a groundout and forcing the second and third batters to fly out.
 
The Railsplitters saw another run in the seventh to push their lead to 10-1 on a double from Boles to bring home Harvey.
 
Kevin Norton came in for LMU in the eighth and struck out the first batter, then forcing a fly out and a ground out to allow the Splitter offense to come out one more time.
 
Getting runners in scoring position, the Railsplitters were able to extend their lead to 11-1 after a fielder's choice to second allowed Keene to tag home. Lincoln Memorial went into the ninth with the arm of Boles on the mound, getting the three outs in four batters to capture the seires opener, 11-1.