Anderson, S.C. – The Lenoir-Rhyne Baseball Team (12-2, 1-0), ranked No. 22 in NCAA Division II, opened South Atlantic Conference play in record-breaking fashion with a 9-0 win over Anderson (4-8, 0-1) Friday night at Memorial Stadium.

Lenoir-Rhyne senior Thomas St. Clair (Winston-Salem, N.C.) improved to 5-0 on the year after throwing a three-hit shutout and striking out a school-record 17 batters.

Lenoir-Rhyne broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning by plating three runs kicked started by a two-run double from sophomore outfielder Zach Jacobs (Moncks Corner, S.C.).

The Bears then put the contest away with a three-run sixth inning and finished with the game with 13 hits.  Junior third baseman Fred Wadsworth (Columbia, S.C.) hit his team-tying fourth home run of the year while sophomore first baseman Alex Reynolds (Kings Mountain, N.C.) added three hits and two runs batted in.

Anderson's Ryan Owens (Boca Raton, Fla.) fell to 1-2 on the year after suffering the loss.

The two teams will wrap up the weekend league series with a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.