Salisbury, NC - The Lincoln Memorial baseball team took to Salisbury, NC on Friday for game one of the SAC Tournament, taking on the Tusculum Pioneers. Earlier in the season, Tusculum took 2-of-3 games against the Railsplitters in a weekend series in Harrogate.

Lincoln Memorial jumped out to a lead in the first inning and never looked back. Collin Goda uncorked the scoring with a solo home run in the top of the inning to give the Railsplitters a quick 1-0 lead. Alex Kowalski added to the run total with a double to left field, driving in Carson Boles to extend the lead to 2-0. Christian Pencek was giving a master class in pitching through the first two innings, holding Tusculum scoreless. Lincoln Memorial further extended its lead in the third inning by way of a Kowalski double, driving in Goda and Kasten Harvey to give the Railsplitters a 4-0 lead. A little later in the inning, Ryan Kurth grounded out to shortstop, allowing Cameron Bowen to cross the plate, extending the lead to 5-0. However, the Pioneers began to fight back, storming back to take a 7-5 lead with seven runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Following a scoreless fifth inning from both sides, the Railsplitters answered back in the top of the sixth. Sam Mast connected on an absolute no-doubter, demolishing a two-run homer to tie the game at 7-7, driving in Chris Hall. 

Rain began to move into the area, giving way to lightning, forcing an extensive weather delay. The teams retook the field just before 6:00 PM. Although the lightning had moved out of the area, the Railsplitters brought the thunder, connecting on two homers as play resumed in the top of the sixth inning. Boles, the newly-minted SAC Player of the Year, lived up to the moniker, connecting on a three-run cannonball to drive in Harvey and Goda pushing Lincoln Memorial's run total into double digits with the score resting at 10-7. Moments later, Kowalski blasted a solo missile to extend the Railsplitter lead to 11-7. Another solid defensive inning left the Pioneers off the board, seeing Lincoln Memorial take to the sticks with an 11-7 lead in the top of the eighth. The Railsplitters continued to add to their run total, racking up another home run and taking advantage of a few errors by Tusculum. Bowen joined in the home run derby, connecting on a solo shot in the top of the eighth to extend the lead to 12-7. Hall then delivered a base hit thanks to the error by the Pioneers' shortstop, allowing Kowalski to cross the plate, bringing the score to 13-7. Lincoln Memorial continued to cook in the eighth inning as Goda singled to the shortstop, allowing Kurth to cross the plate. Harvey then connected on a sac-fly, allowing Hall to round home. Leading 15-7, Boles delivered another hit, driving in Mitch Petzelt to give the Railsplitters a comfortable 16-7 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth inning.

Tusculum chipped away at the lead in the bottom of the inning, adding two runs to bring the score to 16-9 heading into the final frame. The Pioneers refused to go down without a fight, retiring the Railsplitters in the top of the inning. After taking over on offense, Tusculum cut the score to 16-13 with just one out remaining. However, Tusculum was unable to overcome the remainder of the deficit, seeing the Railsplitters take a 16-13 victory behind a season-high five home runs and the seventh time this season the team has scored 16 or more runs.

Christian Pencek got the start from the mound, pitching 3.2 innings, allowing five hits, six runs, and six earned runs with one walk and zero strikeouts. Colin Murphy was credited with the win, pitching 3.0 innings, allowing five hits, zero runs, and zero earned runs with no walks and four strikeouts. Carter White was credited with the save, closing out the game's last batter.

The Railsplitters now await the winner of Lenoir-Rhyne/Catawba to find out who they'll play on Saturday in the winner's bracket.

TC: 000 700 024 13 18 3
LMU: 203 006 050 16 17 0

WP: Murphy (5-2)
LP: Nelson (1-3)