HICKORY, N.C. - The Lenoir-Rhyne Baseball Team survived a late game push from Coker to win their first game at Durham Field this season, with a 2-1 final.
Andy Cook shined in his first collegiate start, striking out four Cobra batters and only allowing two hits and one unearned run in the winning decision.
Braden Houston ran into a little difficulty on the mound in the ninth inning, as Coker got two runners in scoring position, but the redshirt senior got the clutch strikeout to close out the mid-week tilt.
The only offense from the contest came in the fifth inning which was started by Coker's Jaylen Mack scoring from third on a pass ball to give the visitors the one-run lead.
Lenoir-Rhyne dialed up an immediate response when Cole Stanford slashed a solo home run out to left field to square the score at one. Later in the frame, Blake Bean drove Tyler McPeak home on a two-out RBI single to give the Bears the first lead of the afternoon which eventually was the difference maker in the outcome.
STATS AND INFO:
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Despite the one-run difference in the result, the Bears had more than double the number of hits compared to the Cobras with Lenoir-Rhyne recording nine hits and Coker recording four
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The Bears had more opportunities to cash in runs, but failed to capitalize on those chances with leaving 11 runners on base while the Cobras only stranded four aboard
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Bean had a perfect day at the plate, going 3-3 for the Bears, all three hits going for singles which included the game-winning RBI
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Coach Ramirez used four pitchers out of the bullpen after Cook's start, each going for 1.0 inning pitched; the efforts of Scott Meitzler, Gavin Marley, Caleb Cockerham, and Braden Houston combined for four strikeouts and allowing only two hits
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Lenoir-Rhyne's offense had better success with damage at the plate with a .857 OPS, which helped improved their team OPS to a .639
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
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With the victory, Lenoir-Rhyne now leads the all-time series matchup record, 19-13
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The Bears now have a four-game winning streak against Coker, which is tied for the longest win streak for the Bears against the Cobras in their series history
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After dropping their home opener, the Bears get back into the win column at home; Back in 2022, Lenoir-Rhyne had enormous success at home with a 25-2 record
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Despite this contest being against a South Atlantic Conference opponent, the result does not affect their conference record since it was considered as a non-conference game
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Lenoir-Rhyne and Coker will face off against each other in less than a month on March 1 at Hartsville, S.C. - The first time the Bears will travel to Coker since March 26, 2019