Hickory, N.C. – The Lenoir-Rhyne Baseball Team dropped its home opener to Barton on Wednesday evening by a final score of 9-4. E.J. Ranel homered to left field in the ninth inning for his second long ball of the season but the Bears late rally fell short.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Barton 9, Lenoir-Rhyne 4
Records: Barton (1-3), Lenoir-Rhyne (1-3)
Location: Bears Field | Hickory, N.C. 

STATS OF THE GAME:
•  Ranel finished with two hits and two runs scored on the night. The OF reached base four times against the Bulldogs as he added a pair of walks. 
•   Zach Shoemaker added a pair of hits for the Bears who totaled eight knocks in the game. Barton had just one more hit on the night but pushed across five more runs than the hosts. 
•   Kain Kiser earned the start on the mound for LR and took his first loss of the season. The right hander surrendered three runs on two hits and three walks in his three innings of work. Five relievers covered the final six inning for the Bears.  
•   Connor Patterson started for the Bulldogs and came one out away from earning the win. Patterson tossed 4.2 innings and gave up just one run on one hit but walked six batters. 
•   Colby Warren hit his second HR of the year for BC and went 3-for-4 with four runs driven in. 

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
•    LR pitchers combined to strike out 11 batters on the evening, their highest total thus far in 2019. 
•    On top of drawing seven walks, LR was hit by four pitches in this one. 
 
UP NEXT:
The Bears are back in action on Saturday as they host Mount Olive for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. at Bears Field.