WINGATE, N.C. – The Lincoln Memorial baseball team pummeled No. 3 seed Catawba 11-3 on Friday afternoon in the opening round of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament at Ron Christopher Field.
The No. 6 seed Railsplitters (28-16) led from the jump after scoring 3 runs in the 1
st inning and 1 in the 2
nd on the Indians (27-23). RBI singles by
Cameron Bowen and
Kasten Harvey and a run-producing groundout by
Andrew Keene plated the trio of Lincoln Memorial runs in the 1
st frame.
Carson Boles added an RBI knock in the Top of the 2
nd inning to extend the edge to 4-0.
Keene added a solo homer in the 7
th before
Ryan Kurth hit a 2-run shot in the 9
th for insurance runs for the Railsplitters. Kurth went a game-best 4-for-5 at the dish with the homerun, a double and 3 RBI.
Patrick Queener improved to 6-3 on the mound after tossing 6.0 innings of 3-run ball, while
Will Shelton picked up his 3
rd save thanks to 3.0 innings of scoreless relief including 4 strikeouts. Catawba's Austin Fine (9-2) allowed 4 runs on 6 hits in 2.0 innings to be hit with the loss.
The Railsplitters will face the winner of No. 2 seed and host Wingate and No. 7 seed Anderson on Saturday at 11 a.m.