HICKORY, NC - In just their 36th game of the season, the Lenoir-Rhyne Baseball team broke school's single season program record with their 83rd home run of the year, surpassing the mark of 82 set by the 2022 team.

Nathan Keeter tied the record in the third inning and Eli Willen broke the record to lead off the 6th inning of the first game. Cole Stanford and Joseph Mozingo added home runs later in the inning as LR cruised to a 14-2 win in the first game. 

In the night cap, LR used a five-run fourth inning to storm out to a 7-2 lead. Cole Stanford added an other home run as the Bears completed the sweep with a 9-3 win. 

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Game One Final: #16 Lenoir-Rhyne 14, Mars Hill 2 (7 Inns.)
Game Two Final: #16 Lenoir-Rhyne 9, Mars Hill 3
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (31-6, 16-5 SAC), Mars Hill (10-28, 4-17 SAC)
Location: Durham Field I Hickory, N.C.

STORY OF THE GAME ONE:

• Mars Hill stuck first with a run in the second inning but LR responded with three runs in the third and a pair of runs in the 4th before breaking it open with a nine-run 6th inning. 
• The Bears hit three home runs in the 6th as Willen broke the record with an opposite field home run to open the frame. Stanford and Mozingo added bombs to complete the nine run inning. 
• Mozingo, Stanford and Mackenzie Wainwright had two hits a piece and the trio all had at least two RBI's, led by Mozingo's four.
• William Girardi moved to 6-1 on the season as he went 6 1/3 innings and allowed just two runs (one earned) while striking out five. 

STORY OF THE GAME TWO:

• Lenoir-Rhyne added single runs in the first and second innings but the Lions used their first home run of the day to tie the game at 2-2 in the 4th. 
• The Bears responded with a five-run fourth inning, highlighted by RBI triple by Wainwright. 
• Stanford added his 16th home run of the season in the 6th inning as Stanford as hit 13 of his 16 home runs in the last fourteen games. 
• Kellen Gradisar rebounded after suffering his first lost of the season last weekend with his seventh win of the year, going 4 2/3 innings and allowing three earned runs and striking out five. 
• Wainwright, Cole Laskowski, Sal Carricato and Nathaneal Keeter each had two hits. 

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

• The Bears have won 14 of their last 15 games against the Lions. 
• The SAC record for most home runs in a season is 95 set by Carson-Newman (2002) and Wingate (2012). 
• Laskowski played in his 200th and 201st game of his career today, which is the most of any player in program history. 
• Laskowski passed Hank Wofford as Wofford played in 200 career games from 2007-2010. 
• Wainwright's hit streak is now at 27 games, which passed Marcus Shoemaker's 26 game hitting streak in 2017. 
• The Bears are now tied with Carson Newman for second place in the SAC as both teams are one game behind Catawba in the SAC standings. 

UP NEXT: The Bears will finish their six-game home stand with a date with #23 Catawba on Tuesday evening. This game will be a non-conference game as the teams don't face off in a weekend series. Catawba is coming off a sweep of Tusculum this weekend. First-pitch is scheduled for 6:00 PM.