HICKORY, N.C. – The Lenoir-Rhyne Baseball Team and the Erskine Flying Fleet went to battle on Tuesday night in the last regular season game for both clubs. It took 10 innings, 29 runs and 32 hits to settle it before the Bears won on a walkoff single by
Brock Johnson to left center field, 15-14.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Finals: Lenoir-Rhyne 15, Erskine 14
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (23-27), Erskine (27-21)
Location: Bears Field | Hickory, N.C.
STATS OF THE GAME:
• The big hit came from Johnson to complete the game, but prior to that there was a solo home run to right center by
Caleb Beatty that tied the game at 14-14 in the tenth.
• Lenoir-Rhyne used a total of 12 pitchers in this one, but it was freshman
Hayden Gresham who earned his first win of his career, getting the final out of the ballgame before the Bears took the victory.
• Six different hitters recorded multiple base hits, but it was
Caleb Beatty who led the way with a 3-for-4 day at the plate with two runs scored and two runs batted in.
Zack Shoemaker,
Matthew Freeman,
Brock Johnson,
Clayton Jeffries and
Grant Fuller all had two hits.
• The Flying Fleet had a big day at the plate as well as Cole Warken (3-for-5, two RBIs and three runs scored), Xander Vizzcorando (2-for-3, one RBI, three runs scored) and Kyle Heiss (3-for-7, four RBIs, one run scored) had the most disruptive days against Lenoir-Rhyne.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
• Freeman and Jeffries each pitched for the first time this season.
• LR swept the Flying Fleet and took both games for wins this year.
• All seniors were strategically played and given time on the field in order to be respected and applauded on their final home game of their careers.