HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lincoln Memorial University pitching crew tossed another flawless game and backed with a combined 17 team strikeouts, the Railsplitters defeated Cedarville on an ice-cold Friday night at Lamar Hennon Field.
 
LMU's Patrick Queener got his third start of the season and tossed 5.0 innings of work allowing seven hits, but the junior from Brentwood, Tennessee and the Splitter defense held the Yellow Jackets scoreless over the first five innings. Queener finished his day tying his career-high in strikeouts with nine fanned in 23 batters faced.
 
After getting a single and a double early, Cedarville then struck out three straight times to give the Splitter offense their first chance. After a ground out, a single by Cameron Bowen allowed LMU to get a runner on. In his first hit of the night, Carson Boles was able to get Bowen to second with a single, but the Yellow Jacket defense locked down and got out of the first.
 
A total of 10 combined hits between both programs was all the offense during the middle stretch. Lincoln Memorial left numerous runners on base and in scoring position, but the Cedarville defense locked in and was able to get out of the jams.
 
It was the Railsplitters that found home first in the bottom of the fifth. Cameron Powser was given first after being hit by a pitch then went to second after Kevin McCarthy walked. A bunt groundout by Kasten Harvey allowed the Splitters to get the runners in scoring position. Colin Goda then singled to the outfield, allowing Powser to tag in and McCarthy to round third to home, giving LMU a 2-0 lead.
 
The Yellow Jackets quickly answered in the sixth with a solo home run by Punzi to left field, cutting the lead in half.
 
The score held at 2-1 until Lincoln Memorial was able to extend their lead with a five-run seventh. Andrew Keene led off the bottom of the seventh with a blast over the left field wall, making it 3-1. Powser was walked in his appearance at the plate, and after getting on, he gained some extra ground with a stolen base.
 
McCarthy tallied an RBI single to further extend the LMU lead. The Yellow Jackets then went to the bullpen for relief, but the bats of LMU did not slow down as the Railsplitters further extended their lead to 7-1.
 
Lincoln Memorial relied on the bullpen to close out and did so, capturing the series opener over Cedarville, 7-1, on Friday night.
 
Boles paced the Railsplitter offense as he finished the evening going 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs batted in. Goda finished the evening with a 1-for-3 day with a run scored and two RBIs.
 
Queener moves to 2-1 on the year after 5.0 innings of work. Beau Nichols, Kevin Norton and Ryan Franklin all made appearances in the win. The pitching staff and crew tossed a team total 17 strikeouts, which is the third most in a single game by the program in program history.
 
Up Next
 
The Railsplitters and Yellow Jackets return to Lamar Hennon field on Saturday, February 18, 2022 for a double header. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. ET.
 
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.