Harrogate, TN -- The Lincoln Memorial baseball team opened its three-game weekend conference series in dominant fashion on Friday, securing a 13-2 victory over Coker in seven innings at home in run-rule fashion. The Railsplitters established control early by capitalizing on defensive miscues and timely hitting to jump out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning. Alex Kowalski drove in two runs with a single to right field during the frame, while Caleb Jordan and Kowalski both crossed the plate on errors. Brady Morse extended the lead in the third inning after hitting a triple and scoring on a sacrifice fly from Kowalski.
Coker managed to cut into the deficit in the fourth inning when Dimitri Sabino hit a solo home run, but Lincoln Memorial responded immediately in the bottom half of the inning. Kevin Fernandez tripled to score Ty Edds, and Gabe Gray followed with an RBI single to bring the score to 7-1. Payton Armour earned the win on the mound, moving to 2-2 on the season after throwing 5.2 innings and allowing just one run on seven hits while striking out five batters. Easton Barnett provided relief for the final 1.1 innings to close out the contest.
The Railsplitters ended the game via the run-rule with a massive six run outburst in the bottom of the seventh inning. After Peyton Mullannix singled and eventually scored on a base hit by Brooks Hagedorn, the bases became loaded for Gray and Jordan, who both picked up RBIs to push the lead to 10-2. Morse provided the final blow with a three RBI double to left field that cleared the bases and secured the 13-2 margin. Morse finished the day with three hits and three RBIs, while Mullannix and Fernandez also contributed multi-hit and multi-run performances.
With the victory, Lincoln Memorial improved to 15-9 on the season, bolstering a 9-4 conference record, including winning its last five contests. The conference series continues on Saturday with a doubleheader scheduled at the Lamar Hennon field. The first pitch for the opening game is slated for 1 PM, with the final game of the series expected to follow at approximately 4 PM.
