HICKORY, N.C. - The Lenoir-Rhyne Baseball Team produced nine runs in the first four innings of the contest to breeze past Southern Wesleyan, 12-4.
The long ball was again a friend for the Bears as Cole Stanford and Blake Bean crushed multi-run home runs in the third and fourth innings, respectively.
After trailing 1-0 in the top of the second inning, Lenoir-Rhyne's offense went to work and left the Warriors in a cloud of dust, especially in the six-run bottom of the fourth inning.
While Bean's three-run home run in the frame took center stage, Tyler McPeak also cashed in on a 2-RBI single with help from the Southern Wesleyan's error by Wiggins in left field.
Joshua Lanham recorded his first win of the season and his new season-best eight strikeouts. The Redshirt Junior now only sits three punch outs away from becoming the third-highest strikeout leader in program history.
STATS AND INFO:
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Coach Ramirez went deep into his bench, using six pinch hitters with 14 different Bears recording at least one at-bat.
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Although the Warriors were out hit offensively, their fielding didn't help their case as they had three errors compared to a perfect fielding game for the Bears with zero errors.
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It was aggressive night on the base paths for both teams with eight stolen bases as each team successfully stole four bases.
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While Lanham's eight strikeouts led the way for the Bears, it was overall a great afternoon of locating pitches for the hosts with their 14 strikeouts.
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All three extra-base hits were home runs, the Bears had two with the Stanford and Bean home runs while the Warriors had a home run with Marcerio Allen's solo shot.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
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In the third all-time meeting, this is the first time that Southern Wesleyan scored against Lenoir-Rhyne. The two prior meetings were 3-0 and 4-0 victories for the Bears.
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With the win, the Bears have now won six of their last seven games. This includes winning five of their last six home contests.
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With the Bears' win, the program now sits one win away from the 1400th win in program history.
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Lenoir-Rhyne and Southern Wesleyan will continue their three-game series on Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. followed by another contest 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
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This series was originally scheduled to take place in Central, S.C., but the three-game set got moved to Hickory, N.C. on Tuesday due to impending weather.