HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lincoln Memorial University baseball team opened the 2022 season Saturday afternoon inside Lamar Hennon, defeating the Golden Eagles of Charleston 5-4, thanks to a dominant performance from ace Bryce Woody and a stellar offensive performance from the DH, Sam Mast.
 
Graduate Bryce Woody was on the hill for the Railsplitters in their season opener Saturday against the Golden Eagles, facing early trouble in the first, giving up two runs. The Kingston, Tenn. product quickly gathered his composure, closing out the remainder of the inning without any further damage, and then pitched six-consecutive shutout innings.
 
Woody earned his first victory of the season, completing seven innings, allowing only two runs off a total of three hits. Woody struck out five Golden Eagles in the season debut, only walking one.
 
The Railsplitters quickly erased the early deficit to Charleston, as DH Sam Mast stepped to the plate in the bottom of the second, going yard deep to left field to pull the Blue & Grey within one.
 
LMU's third inning made the difference Saturday afternoon, scoring three runs from efficient and productive baseball. Cameron Bowen and Carson Boles reached base to begin the inning, as LMU saw the first run of the third score off an Andrew Keene SAC-fly. Mast then recorded another RBI in the contest, singling through the right side to score Carson Boles. Centerfielder Collin Goda capped off the inning by smacking the game's only triple, as Mast scored from first to give LMU the 4-2 lead.
 
Both sides cooled off on the offensive end the next four innings, as sophomore David Brian Ellison came into for relief in the eighth, retiring the Golden Eagles by only allowing one hit and no runs scored.
 
In the bottom of the eighth, Carson Boles again reached base, beating out a throw to first that got past the first baseman, as Boles advanced all the way to third. First baseman Ryan Kurth then tacked on LMU's final run of the afternoon, with a SAC-fly to center, scoring Boles to make it 5-2.
 
Beau Nichols came into the top of the ninth for the save against Charleston, getting in trouble straight out of the gate as the Golden Eagles quickly scored two runs to pull within one. A big credit to the Railsplitters catcher Caleb Berry, who against settled down another LMU arm, as Nichols responded by striking out the next batter for the first out of the inning, and then got a groundout and flyout to seal the victory for the Blue & Grey.
 
UP NEXT…
The Railsplitters are back in action Sunday afternoon against Charleston, this time for a doubleheader at 1 and 4 p.m. EST at the Lamar Hennon Field.

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.