Brevard, N.C. – Lenoir-Rhyne (21-8, 5-4) and Brevard (11-19, 2-10) split a South Atlantic Conference baseball doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Gil Coan Field. The Tornado won the first game by an 11-8 score while the Bears prevailed in the second contest, 8-4.
Game One – Brevard 11,
Lenoir-Rhyne 8
The Tornados spotted the Bears a 3-0 lead in the first inning but came back to score 11 straight runs to take the contest.
Brevard's run was highlighted by a six-run second inning which included a two-run single from Blaine Durham (Westfield, N.C.). Durham added a solo home run and finished with three runs batted in to lead the Tornado.
Lenoir-Rhyne tried to rally with a five-run eighth inning – including a three-run home run by senior shortstop Matthew De La Rosa (Austin, Texas) – but the deficit was too great to overcome. De La Rosa drove in four runs in the setback.
For the Bears, senior first baseman Colby Dishmond (Statesville, N.C.) added two hits and two runs batted in but sophomore Landon Whitson (Marion, N.C.) fell to 3-2 after taking the loss.
Brevard's Hunter Donaldson (Edneyville, N.C.) improved to 2-4 on the year after earning the win while Tyler Luneke (Naples, Fla.) pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the save.
Box Score
Game Two – Lenoir-Rhyne 8, Brevard 4 (seven innings)
De La Rosa hit a grand slam, giving him a team-leading eight home runs on the year, as part of a five-run fifth inning as the Bears rallied from a 4-1 deficit to salvage the split.
Dishmond and freshman catcher Zack Shoemaker (Colfax, N.C.) added solo home runs for the Bears while junior Patrick LaGanke (Raleigh, N.C.) improved to 4-0 on the season after notching the win in relief. Lenoir-Rhyne sophomore Tad Ratliff (Taylorsville, N.C.) was credited with the save with a scoreless ninth inning.
For Brevard, Brayden Morris (Pulaski, Va.) drove in a pair of runs but Tyler Konzen (Orlando, Fla.) (1-4) suffered the setback.
Box Score
Lenoir-Rhyne remains on the road to take on Limestone on Tuesday afternoon at 3:00 p.m., in Gaffney, S.C. Brevard hosts North Greenville at 3:00 p.m., on Tuesday as well.