Newberry, SC - The
Lincoln Memorial baseball team secured another hard-fought South Atlantic Conference series over the weekend, winning two out of three games against Newberry following a dramatic Saturday doubleheader. After earning a narrow 4-3 win on Friday, the Railsplitters split Saturday's pair of games to clinch the series. While Newberry claimed the afternoon's first contest 6-2 to even the series, Lincoln Memorial responded with a resilient 5-4 victory in ten innings during the nightcap to head home with the series win.
In the first game of the Saturday doubleheader, Lincoln Memorial struggled to find an offensive rhythm early as the two teams remained scoreless through three frames. Newberry broke the deadlock in the bottom of the fourth inning, utilizing a walk, an error, and a sacrifice fly to take a 1-0 lead. The game remained tense until the bottom of the sixth, when Newberry broke out for four runs on four hits, including two doubles, to extend their advantage to 5-0.
Lincoln Memorial began to chip away in the seventh inning when Brady Morse walked and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Alex Kowalski. The Railsplitters added another run in the eighth after Josh Marmo doubled and Gabe Gray reached on an error that allowed Marmo to cross the plate, cutting the deficit to 6-2. Despite a lead-off double by Peyton Mullannix in the ninth, Lincoln Memorial could not complete the comeback. Adrian Smith took the loss on the mound, pitching five and a third innings and allowing five runs, while Easton Barnett provided solid relief by finishing the final two and two-thirds innings.
The series finale proved to be a classic SAC baseball battle that required extra innings to resolve. Lincoln Memorial jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first inning highlighted by a Mullannix RBI double and a two-run home run from Kowalski. Newberry answered back in the third inning with three runs of their own to tie the game. The score remained deadlocked until the sixth, when Newberry took a 4-3 lead following an outfield error.
The Railsplitters showed their grit in the seventh inning when Ayden Jackson singled and eventually scored on a clutch sacrifice fly by Morse to tie the game at 4-4. The bullpens took over from there, with Lucas Smith providing three and a third innings of scoreless relief to keep the Railsplitters alive. In the top of the tenth, Mullannix doubled to center and moved to third on a bunt single by Kowalski. Nick Kaelin then delivered the game-winning sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Mullannix. Bradric Helton earned the win in relief, retiring the side in the bottom of the tenth to secure the 5-4 victory and the series win.
