Harrogate, TN -- The Lincoln Memorial baseball team delivered a dominant performance at Lamar Hennon Field on Wednesday, defeating Kentucky State in a non-conference mid-week match up. The Railsplitters relied on patient plate appearances and a late-inning offensive explosion to secure the victory in Harrogate. Starting pitcher
Dylan Maire set the tone early, earning his first win of the season by tossing three scoreless innings and allowing only two hits while striking out three. The Lincoln Memorial defense remained steady behind him, keeping the visitors off the board through the first four frames.
The scoring began in the bottom of the first inning when Gabe Gray reached base on an error and later came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Brady Morse. After a quiet second inning, the Railsplitters extended their lead in the third. CJ Dugan sparked the rally with a walk and a stolen base, eventually scoring on a sacrifice fly from Gray. Peyton Mullannix and Brooks Hagedorn each added runs batted in during the frame to push the advantage to four runs. The disciplined approach at the plate continued in the fourth inning as the Railsplitters drew four walks and three hit-by-pitches. Caleb Jordan, Morse, Mullannix, and Alex Kowalski all recording runs batted in without the benefit of a hit to make it a nine to zero ballgame.
Kentucky State managed to break through in the top of the fifth inning, taking advantage of an error to plate two unearned runs against reliever Josh Jeffcoat. However, Lincoln Memorial responded immediately with their most productive inning of the afternoon. The Railsplitters tallied seven hits in the bottom of the fifth, highlighted by a two-run double from Morse and run-scoring singles by Gray, Jordan, and Dugan. By the end of the frame, the lead had ballooned to fifteen to two. Morse finished the day with a team-high four runs batted in, while Gray and Jordan each crossed the plate three times to lead the scoring effort.
The relief corps of Gavin Zoeller, Merrick Graham, and Ian Milliner combined to shut the door over the final two innings. Despite a lone run surrendered by the defense in the sixth, the Railsplitters remained in total control. Seth Newkirk added a late hit to keep the offensive momentum moving, and the pitching staff finished the contest with a combined five strikeouts.
