HICKORY, N.C. - Lenoir-Rhyne Baseball picked up right where they left off on Friday with a doubleheader sweep of No. 14 Goldey-Beacom on Saturday. The Bears combined for 26 runs in the two games, and both starting pitchers grabbed wins for LR -
Joshua Lanham in game one, and
Austin Edwards in game two.
Wade Cuda continued his unbelievable series with six more hits, including three doubles and a three-run home run in game one. Cuda had five total RBIs on the day.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Game one final: Lenoir-Rhyne 16, Goldey-Beacom 6
Game two final: Lenoir-Rhyne 10, Goldey-Beacom 9
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (7-1), Goldey-Beacom (0-3)
Location: Hickory, N.C. | Durham Field
STATS AND INFO
Game one
- The Bears had four massive innings in game one, scoring three in the 3rd, four in the 4th, six in the 7th and three in the 8th.
- Cuda got things rolling with a opposite field three-run home run in the third, scoring Bryce Stober and David Bell
- Things got rolling in the 4th inning when Luis Atiles came home on a wild pitch, Stober doubled two more runs home, and Cuda doubled Stober in on back-to-back pitches.
- No one would score again until the 7th inning when Goldey-Beacom scored its first runs of the weekend on a wild pitch and passed ball. It was 7-2 after six and a half innings.
- Hogan Stallings got a pinch-hit RBI single in 7th, Atiles drove in Drew Yniesta, and David Bell unloaded the bases with his second career grand slam. It was 13-2 LR after seven.
- Each team would tack on a few more runs in the late innings to make it a 16-6 final.
- Cuda went 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs, Yniesta scored two runs, Atiles went 2-for-5 with an RBI, and Stober had three hits and and 2 RBIs.
- Lanham earned his second win of the year in as many starts, pitching six shutout innings, allowing five hits and striking out eight.
Game two
- Anthony Porrino opened the scoring in the 1st inning, driving in Cole Laskowski on a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0 LR.
- Mason Maxwell hit a two-run double in the 2nd inning against Edwards. It should have been a three-run double, but one of the Goldey-Beacom baserunners missed home plate and was called out to end the inning.
- In the 4th inning, LR strung together five runs and five hits, all with two outs. Cuda started the rally with a single, Laskowski singled, and then Yniesta drove in Cuda with an infield single.
- Then, with the bases loaded, Porrino, unloaded them with a double just inside the third base bag to make it 5-2.
- Atiles then knocked Porrino in with a base hit of his own to make it 6-2.
- A two run home run by Garrett Musey in the 5th inning cut the lead to 6-4, and then a solo blast for Marshall Awtry in the 7th made it 6-5.
- In the bottom of the 7th, LR struck again with two outs. Brett Eurey lined an RBI single to score Atiles, and then Cuda tucked a double down the right field line to score Eurey. Yniesta then knocked in Cuda, and Atiles added what ended up being the game-winning RBI in the 8th when he scored Porrino on a single.
- Entering the 9th up 10-5, LR surrendered a grand slam to Musey, who had 6 RBIs on the day. Braden Houston then came in the game and closed the door with a strikeout with the tying run on 3rd base.
- Edwards got the win, pitching five innings and allowing five hits and four earned runs. The transfer righty also had four walks and eight strikeouts, and is now 2-0 with the Bears.
- Atiles led the way in game two with four hits and 2 RBIs, including the game-winning RBI. Cuda again went 3-for-4 with an RBI, Laskowski went 3-for-4, Yniesta went 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs, Porrino had four RBIs, and Eurey had an important RBI as well.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- This is the first time since last February that LR has beaten a ranked opponent at home. The Bears knocked off No. 8 Catawba in February 2021.
- LR starting pitchers are now 6-1 on the season.
- Houston is the third different Bear to have a save this season.
- Cuda came up a triple short of the cycle in game one. He leads the nation with five home runs this year.
- Bell has four career home runs at LR, and two of them are grand slams. His last two both cleared the bases, and were almost exactly a calender year apart. The last one was against Coker on Feb. 14, 2021.
- The Bears move to 3-0 at home. LR won 10 total games at home in 2021.
- Lanham now has 17 strikeouts and three walks on the season. Last year, he finished with 90 strikeouts and only 10 walks, and his 9.00 K/BB ratio was 10th in the nation.
UP NEXT: The Bears will try to complete the four-game sweep tomorrow at noon.