Crestview Hills, K.Y. - It was another tough battle for the Lincoln Memorial baseball team against Thomas More in midweek non-conference play, as the Railsplitters rode early hitting and took advantage of mistakes to defeat the Saints 4-2 off the back of another phenominal performance from the pitching staff.
With their win, the Railsplitters improved their record to 26-13 and 2-0 on the season against the Saints, after LMU took the meeting against Thomas More in February. The first inning was all Railsplitters, as a leadoff ground-rule double by Gabe Gray got the Splitters in business early. A Caleb Jordan walk was followed by another ball-in-play by Brady Morse, and chaos ensued as the Railsplitters scored two runs off a Thomas More error to take a 2-0 lead. Peyton Mullannix kept the offense rolling with a walk, followed shortly by his team-leading 15th stolen base of the season, putting two in scoring position with less than two outs. CJ Dugan would make the Saints pay, delivering a two-run single to score Morse and Mullannix, making it 4-0 Splitters in the first. Dugan would steal second and third base in the inning as well before Thomas More was able to end the inning.
From there, the Railsplitters pitching staff took over. Starting pitcher Lucas Smith earned two strikeouts in the first inning to help retire the side in order before doing the same in the second, striking out the heart of the Saints batting order to set their offense down 1-2-3 in consecutive innings.
Thomas More attempted to climb back in the third inning, as two runs would score for the Saints, but Dylan Maire came out of the bullpen to shut down the order for Thomas More, inducing a double play ball to keep the Splitters lead at two going into the fourth inning. Maire collected another clean inning for the staff, earning a strikeout and two ground outs in the bottom of the fourth.
AJ Hootman was the next man up for the Railsplitters, getting a perfect inning of his own while striking out a batter to keep LMU on top going into the seventh. Gavin Zoeller collected two strikeouts of his own before Merrick Graham sent the game to the ninth with LMU on top 4-2 thanks to getting timely ground outs from Saints batting.
In the ninth, despite Thomas More forcing traffic on the bases, Bradric Helton slammed the door on the Saints, getting a ground out before striking out consecutive hitters with runners on base to end the ballgame, handing the Railsplitters the season sweep over the Saints.
At the plate, Gray led the way for LMU, collecting two hits in five at-bats to raise his season total to 62, one of the highest marks in the South Atlantic Conference. Dugan led the way with his two RBI while Mullannix, Dugan, and Kevin Fernandez were all part of the hit brigade.
On the mound, Maire earned his second win of the season, improving to 2-0 with his 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball, striking out three batters in the process. Smith led the way with four strikeouts on the afternoon, while Hootman and Zoeller each earned strikeouts of their own. In total, the bullpen collected 6.2 innings while allowing a total of four hits and no runs, striking out eight batters in total. For the entire game, LMU walked just two Saints all day, limiting the chances for Thomas More in the win.
The Railsplitters hit the road once more this weekend, traveling to third-ranked Catawba for a conference weekend series.
