Hickory, N.C.--The Lenoir-Rhyne Baseball Team got seven shutout innings from Alex Shirazi in a game one victory but LR fell in the nightcap 7-4 to spilt with Carson-Newman in the first weekend of conference play. The Bears will look to win the series tomorrow in the rubber match. 

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Game 1 Final:  Lenoir-Rhyne 4, Carson-Newman 0
Game 2 Final:  Carson-Newman 7, Lenoir-Rhyne 4
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (8-6, 1-1 SAC), Carson-Newman (10-5, 1-1 SAC)
Location: Bears Field | Hickory, N.C.

STATS OF GAME ONE:

• LR got on the board in the bottom of the third, Bryce Stober led off with a single, Xander Ferlenda was hit by a pitch then Connor Smith hit a high chopper off the plate to load the bases for Will Jones. Before Jones could get a swing in, Stober scored on a wild pitch to give the Bears a 1-0 lead. 
• After the wild pitch, the Bears pulled the squeeze play out and it was perfectly executed by Jones, scoring Ferlenda to gave the Bears a 2-0 lead. 
• Bears added an insurance run in the 7th and 8th. In the 7th Ferlenda drove in Stober then David Bell drove in Mike McHugh with a RBI double in the 8th to extend the lead to 4-0.
• Alex Shirazi pitched seven scoreless innings to pick up his second win on the season. Shirazi only allowed two hits and did not allow an Eagles runner to get to third. 
• Ben Friebel pitched the final two innings to pick up his fourth save on the season. Friebel's four saves has him in second in the SAC. 
• E.J. Ranel returned to the lineup after missing the last ten games. Ranel went 3-4 for the Bears in his return.  

STATS OF GAME TWO:     

• After a lead-off walk to start the second, Stober threw out Mark Treadway trying to steal second.  It was Stober's seventh opponent he has thrown out stealing on the season. 
• Bears scored first again with two runs in the second. McHugh's RBI double was followed by a RBI single by Brock Johnson.
• C-N scored the next four runs with two-out extra base hits.  The Eagles tied it at two with a two-run double by Chris Caldwell then took a 4-2 lead in the fourth with a two-run triple by Gunner Ricketts. 
• Bears tied it in the 6th, first another McHugh RBI double chased Eagles starter Matt Bradley. McHugh would then score on an error by the Eagles's Zach Boze to tied it. 
• A walk, hit by pitch, two errors and a clutch two-run double help the Eagles to a three-run 7th inning to give them the lead and the game. 
• Carson-Newman had the leadoff runner on in all seven innings in game 2. 
• The Bears used six pitchers behind starter Jarrod Large. Large went 3 innings allowing 2 runs (0 earned) on 5 hits and walked 2.
• Joshua Lanham was the losing pitcher after the three unearned runs in the 7th. 

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

• Oddly this is Carson-Newman first trip to Hickory since 2014. Carson-Newman hosted conference series in 15', 17' and 18' and the teams did not play in 16' and 19'.
• Will Jones had a hit in each game to extend his hitting streak to nine games.
• Max LeCroy picked up his first career hit with a leadoff single in the 6th. 
• Jackson Benjamin came on to get out of the 7th inning jam in the second game. It was Benjamin's second straight scoreless outing out of the pen. 

UP NEXT:  Baseball will look to win the series tomorrow at 1 P.M. with a single nine inning game.