HICKORY, N.C. - There's some magic in the air in 2022 at Durham Field. After blanking Coker 11-0 in game one of today's SAC doubleheader, No. 15 Lenoir-Rhyne Baseball found themselves down 7-2 against the Cobras in the 4th off the 7-inning game two. The Bears chipped away, scoring one in the 4th, three in the fifth and two in the 7th to win 8-7 and grab their third walk-off winner in less than a month at Durham Field. Wade Cuda got the big hit, a double to the left center field gap to drive in David Bell after Cole Laskowski tied the game earlier in the inning with his first career home run as a Bear. 

"This team is something else," Cuda said after the game while being mobbed by his teammates. "It's not a matter of if, but when we're going to get going. We haven't been tested a whole lot this year, but this was great to see us fight back and win a close one like this. We knew we had enough time to get things going, and the guys in the bullpen held it in long enough for us to come back. This has been a special year so far and we are far from finished."

Hear Cuda's full postgame interview here.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Game one final: No. 15 Lenoir-Rhyne 11, Coker 0
Game two final: No. 15 Lenoir-Rhyne, 8, Coker 7
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (20-1, 3-0 SAC), Coker (6-14, 3-3 SAC)
Location: Hickory, N.C. | Durham Field

GAME ONE INFO

• Joshua Lanham got the start on the mound, and the reigning SAC Freshman of the Year turned in his most dominant performance of the 2022 season so far. The righty pitched seven shutout innings, allowing just four hits and striking out 10. He is now 4-0 on the year. 
• The Bears got rolling in the 1st inning in one of the weirdest plays you'll ever see. With the bases loaded, Luis Atiles came up and the ball out of the ballpark to left field, however, because it was very close to being caught by the left fielder, the runner at first base (Drew Yniesta), went back to the bag to tag up and Atiles passed him. Atiles was credited with a single and called out on the play, but the three baserunners still scored to make it 3-0 LR. 
• Cuda added the first of three sacrifice flies on the day in the 2nd, driving in Brayden Collett. Atiles followed that up with his fourth RBI of the day with a single, knocking in Laskowski. 
• Yniesta added a two-run double in the fifth, and Atiles once again drove in Laskowski with an RBI groundout. The Bear shortshop finished with five RBIs in game one. 
• Another sac fly from Cuda in the 6th made it 9-0, and back-to-back RBI doubles from Matt Mackey and Nick Clarno in the 7th rounded out the scoring in game one for LR.
• Michael Allen and Joey Cobb each pitched scoreless innings to preserve the Bears' third shutout of the season. 

GAME TWO INFO

• The Bears wasted no time getting going in game two. After a couple walks, Nick Clarno reached on a bunt single to drive in Cuda. A sacrifice fly from Anthony Porrino made it 2-0 LR after one. 
• The Cobras would then score the next seven runs in the game - adding two in the 2nd, one in the 3rd, and four in the fourth. The Bears committed a couple errors in the infield to boost the Cobra rallies, and three out of the seven runs were unearned. 
• Things were looking bleak for the Bears, but yet another sacrifice fly from Cuda in the bottom of the 4th drove in David Bell to make it 7-3.
• Bell came up again with two men on in the 5th, and had arguably the biggest hit of the game for the Bears, a three-run home run off the batting cages behind the left field fence to score Clarno and Porrino to bring LR within one run.
• The Bears rallied but couldn't score in the 6th, and the game reached the 7th and final inning with the Bears trailing by a run. 
• Cole Laskowski led things off the in the 7th, and on the second pitch of the inning blasted his first career home run as a Bear to straightway center field to tie the game at 7. 
• After a popout, Bell came up huge again, lining a single down the left field line to set the table for Cuda. 
• The Bear leadoff man did not disappoint, cranking a double to the fence in left center field. Bell scored from first base, and the celebration was on. 
• Jackson Reid got his third win of the season in relief, pitching the final two innings for the Bears and shutting the Cobras down. 

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• With the win in game one, the Bears won their 16th game in a row, which is a program record for a single season. The all-time program record is 19 wins in a row - from the end of the 2014 season to the beginning of the 2015 season - but the previous record of 15 straight wins in a single season was broken Saturday. 
• This was the second Saturday in a row the Bears won on a walk-off. LR defeated Georgia Southwestern 4-3 in 13 innings last Saturday at Durham Field. 
• LR now moves to 4-0 this season in one-run games. 
• The Bears remain undefeated at home in 2022 with a perfect 16-0 mark. 
• LR has now won six out of the last eight games against Coker. 
• The Bears have scored 10 or more runs in 11 games this season, and are 11-0 in those games. LR was 13-0 in such games in 2021. 

UP NEXT: The Bears step back out of conference play when they host USC Aiken of the Peach Belt in a midweek game on Tuesday (3/8). First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.