Hickory, N.C. – Lenoir-Rhyne (24-10, 6-6) and Tusculum (22-8, 8-4) split a South Atlantic Conference baseball doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Bears Field.  Lenoir-Rhyne won the first contest by a 6-4 score while Tusculum took the nightcap, 7-4.

Game One – Lenoir-Rhyne 6,
Tusculum 4
Lenoir-Rhyne senior first baseman Ryan Perkins (Woodruff, S.C.) had a bases-clearing double in the seventh inning and finished with four hits to lead the Bears to the win.

Lenoir-Rhyne sophomore Austin Hancock (Defiance, Ohio) earned the win and improved to 5-0 on the year.  Hancock allowed just two runs while pitching into the sixth inning and striking out six batters.

Tusculum lost despite a pair of solo home run from Kevin Victoriano (Bronx, N.Y.) while Christian Raasch (Norcross, Ga.) fell to 5-2 after suffering the loss. 

Senior shortstop Matthew De La Rosa (Austin, Texas) drove in his league-leading 49th run of the season for the Bears as well.

Box Score

Game Two – Tusculum 7, Lenoir-Rhyne 4
Victoriano hit his third home run of the day while Nick Lacina (St. Paul, Minn.) added a solo shot – both came in the seventh inning – as the Pioneers salvaged the split with the Bears.

Tusculum look control with a four-run second inning to open the scoring.  However, all four runs were unearned while Creighton Wilke (Lincoln, Neb.) highlighted the frame with a two-run single.

Lenoir-Rhyne was led by sophomore outfielder Marcus Shoemaker (Colfax, N.C.) with two hits and three runs batted in but sophomore Matt Sullivan (Bristol, Va.) fell to 2-2 after taking the loss.

For Tusculum, Ethan Carpenter (Polkville, N.C.) improved to 4-2 on the year after earning the victory while McKenly Berry (Elizabethton, Tenn.) notched his second save of the year.

Box Score

Lenoir-Rhyne faces Winston-Salem State in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m.  Tusculum takes on King in Bristol, Tenn., on Tuesday at 3:00 p.m.