HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lincoln Memorial University baseball program went to the brink on Tuesday afternoon with Kentucky State as the Railsplitters captured their fourth straight win after a walk-off win over the Thorobreds.
Kentucky State got the scoring going in the top of the first on a single to center field to bring in one run. The Thorobred pitching staff was able to shut down the big bats of LMU in the first, needing just four batters to get to the second.
Making his first start at LMU,
Ethan Bobo pitched a calm second inning to allow the Lincoln Memorial offense to get to work.
The Railsplitters exploded for a seven run second inning to take a commanding lead over Kentucky State. LMU went up 2-1 after a two run blsat over the left field wall by
Kasten Harvey. Moments later, Colin Goda was able to tag one down the left field line to get
Andrew Keene in.
Ryan Kurth made it 7-1 LMU after a three-run blast over the center field wall before the Thorobreds were able to get out of the inning.
Kentucky State tried to cut deep into the Splitter lead with a two RBI double from Schank, but the Railsplitters were able to get out of the half inning. LMU saw an RBI single from
Jaeger Keeline bring in Harvey before an RBI groundout brought in Powser, giving the Railsplitters a 9-3 lead after three innings.
A quiet fourth inning led to a fifth inning that saw both programs tally runs. Kentucky State clawed back into the Railsplitter lead as they tallied three runs in the fifth to cut the LMU lead to 9-6. The Thorobreds were able to keep Lincoln Memorial off the board in the fifth.
Kentucky State was able to retake the lead in the sixth on an inside the park grand slam from Chambers put the visitors up 10-9. The Thorobreds got an insurance run in the eighth to take a 11-9 lead, but the Railsplitters had a different story.
Needing three runs, the Railsplitters took to the ninth with just three outs remaining, but only gave up one out. Harvey got things going first as he reached first on a fielding error by the KSU second baseman. Powser then singled to right, allowing Harvey to get into scoring position.
Kevin McCarthy made his first LMU appearance knocking down the single to shortstop, loading the bases up in the process. Goda then came to bat for LMU and was walked cutting the Thorobred lead to one. A
Chris Hall single to right field allowed
Tucker Hagan to tag in, evening things up at 11 a piece.
With
Austin Cole being the winning run on third,
Carson Boles stepped up to the plate, taking a couple pitches before sending one fair and high. The Thorobreds defense was able to get under it, but Cole tagged up at third and was sent home, scoring the winning run on a walk-off sacrifice fly by Boles, giving the Railsplitters a 12-11 win over Kentucky State.
David Brian Ellison picked up the win and moves to 2-0 on the year after striking out one and forcing a ground out and fly out to secure the win. Multiple Splitters made their first appearances on the year in
Brennan Murphy,
Trey Schulz,
Kevin McCarthy and
Tucker Hagan.
Ryan Kurth paced the LMU offense at the plate as the Winter Springs, Fla. native recorded a 3-for-5 day with a run scored and three RBIs.
Up Next
The Railsplitters will turn their attention to Cedarville this upcoming weekend for a three-game series. Game one is slated to start at 3 p.m. on Friday, February 18.
Stay tuned to
LMURailsplitters.com, as well as LMU's social media platforms —@LMURailsplitter on Twitter, @LMURailsplitters on Facebook and @lmurailsplitters on Instagram — for complete coverage of Railsplitter baseball through the 2022 season.
