Hickory, N.C. – The Lenoir-Rhyne Baseball Team (4-1) split its 2018 home opening doubleheader with West Virginia State (1-1) Friday at Bears Field. The Yellow Jackets prevailed in the first contest, 4-2, before the Bears salvaged the split with a 12-8 victory in the nightcap. Both games were seven innings.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: West Virginia State 4, Lenoir-Rhyne 2; Lenoir-Rhyne 12, West Virginia State 8
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (4-1), West Virginia State (1-1)
Location: Bears Field | Hickory, N.C.
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STATS OF THE GAME (Game 1):
• The Yellow Jackets scored a pair of runs in each of the first two frames to take control early with a 4-1 advantage. Brandon Wright (Winfield, W.Va.) led West Virginia State with two runs scored.
• For Lenoir-Rhyne, junior first baseman
Alex Reynolds (Kings Mountain, N.C.) tallied a run-scoring single while junior
Hunter Martin (Stanfield, N.C.) (1-1) suffered the loss. The Bears, however, allowed just one hit after the first inning.
• For the Yellow Jackets, Colby Gainer (Elkins, W.Va.) (1-0) earned the win and Tyrel Panter (Ellensburg, Wash.) pitched two scoreless innings and picked up the save.
STATS OF THE GAME (Game 2):
• Lenoir-Rhyne jumped out to a 12-0 advantage thanks to a nine-run fourth inning. LR senior outfielder
Marcus Shoemaker (Colfax, N.C.) hit a two-run home run and finished with three runs batted in.
• Reynolds and redshirt freshman third baseman
Will Jones (Clayton, N.C.) added two-run singles as well for the Bears, who also totaled 11 hits for the contest. In addition, senior
Matt Sullivan (Bristol, Va.) improved to 2-0 with the win.
• Ryan McDonough (Nitro, W.Va.) hit a three-run home run in the ninth inning for the Yellow Jackets, who scored the last eight runs in the contest. The Yellow Jackets' Hunter Bradley (New Haven, W.Va.) (0-1) was tagged with the loss.
UP NEXT:
The two teams wrap up the series Saturday at 11:00 a.m., in the rubber game at Bears Field.
