HICKORY, N.C. - On Anthony Porrino's first swing of the day, he launched a ball over the right field fence to give Lenoir-Rhyne baseball a thrilling 9-6 win over Barton in the 2022 home opener. Porrino had come in defensively in the top of the 9th inning and made the most of his only at-bat of the day. The game saw four lead changes and three ties, and it was eventually the Bears that prevailed over the Bulldogs.

"Awesome baseball game, probably one of those all-time games for me and our players and our coaches," said head coach Chris Ramirez. "We battled through adversity, thought we had the save at the end, they tie it up, and then obviously Porrino with the big knock at the end to win it in storybook ending fashion.

"We feel like our offense this year is going to be a little more grit and grind, move the runners, that type of thing. That being said, when you're on the barrel, you've got a chance to hit the home run, and we did that today. Really proud of how our guys battled."

"Just wanted to be ready to go," Porrino said. "Coach Ram gave me a game plan and I went in there and stuck to it and hopped on the first pitch. It was pretty surreal. I've never hit a walk-off before, but I was happy to do it here at LR and be with the guys."

Hear the full postgame interviews here.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: Lenoir-Rhyne 9, Barton 6
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (4-1), Barton (3-2)
Location: Hickory, N.C. | Durham Field

STATS AND INFO

• Barton grabbed the first two runs of the game after back-to-back two-out hits against starter Tanner Moyers. 
• LR answered right back in the bottom of the 2nd inning when Wade Cuda went deep on the first pitch of the inning to right center field to cut the lead to 2-1. 
• LR took its first lead of the game in the bottom of the 3rd when Scott Meitzler found the gap with 2 outs and 2 strikes to bring home Drew Yniesta and Cole Laskowski. 
• Barton answered right back in the 4th, hitting three doubles and scoring two runs to regain the lead at 4-3. 
• The Bulldogs added another run in the 5th on a sac fly, but it could've been much more if not for a leaping catch at the wall in left field by Bryce Stober, robbing Jared Beebe of a home run. Barton led 5-3 at that point. 
• The Bears once again tied things up in the 6th inning on a two-run single from David Bell, scoring Matt Mackey and Cuda, who were both hit by pitches. \
• Then in the 8th, Nick Clarno gave the Bears the lead back with a rocket of solo home run to left field that left the park in a hurry. 
• The Bulldogs were once again able to crawl back and tie the game in the 9th on a wild pitch that scored Beebe. However, Barton was not able to take the lead because Braden Houston shut the door. Houston, who earned the win in the game, came in with one out, a runners on first and third, and a 3-0 count on the batter. He bounced back to strike out that batter and the next one to keep the game tied. 
• Drew Yniesta then led things off in the 9th with a single. He was bunted over to second by Meitzler, Cuda walked, and Porrino came up and ended the game. 

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• This was the 22nd meeting between the two programs since 2000, but only the second meeting in Hickory. Today was the first time LR has beaten Barton in Hickory this century. 
• The 22 meetings are an even 11-11. 
• After only hitting one home run in the first four games of the year, LR exploded for three today. The Bears led the SAC in home runs in 2021 with 63 in just 41 games. 
• Henry Cartrett had a phenomenal second outing for the Bears after transferring from USC Aiken, striking out the side in order in the 7th. 
• Freshman Spencer Floyd pitched the 8th and started a double play by snagging a soft line drive out of the air and doubling the runner off at first. 
• This was the first of 13 consecutive home games in the month of February for LR. 

UP NEXT: The Bears host No. 14 Goldey-Beacom in a four-game series beginning on Friday at 2 p.m. from Durham Field.