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Lenoir-Rhyne University Athletics

Eli Willen
6
Winner Central Missouri UCM 46-12
2
Lenoir-Rhyne LR 50-14
Winner
Central Missouri UCM
46-12
6
Final
2
Lenoir-Rhyne LR
50-14
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Central Missouri UCM 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 6 9 0
Lenoir-Rhyne LR 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 8 3

W: Wilson,Jake (6-1) L: Gradisar, Kellen (11-4) S: McReynolds,JD (4)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Jason Stuebe, Athletic Communications Assistant

Baseball suffers first defeat in Cary; Will face Central Missouri in a win-or-go-home game tomorrow afternoon

Cary, N.C.-- The Lenoir-Rhyne Baseball team suffered their first defeat at the 2025 DII Baseball Championship as Central Missouri defeated the Bears 6-2 on Wednesday afternoon. The win by the Mules sets up a rematch on Thursday with the winner advancing to the Championship Series that will began on Friday. 

The Bears got RBI's from Cole Laskowski and Eli Willen, along with a strong pitching performances from Kellen Gradisar and Randan Rigdon. 

Tomorrow's game is schedule for 3:00 PM now due to weather coming in tomorrow. Stay tuned for any further updates. 

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: (3) Lenoir-Rhyne 2, (2) Central Missouri 6
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (50-14), Central Missouri (46-12)
Location: Cary, N.C. | USA Baseball National Training Complex

STORY OF THE GAME:
  • For the second time in this tournament, the Bears found themselves down 3-0 early as the Mules scored once in the first and twice in the fourth. 
  • The Bears got one of the runs back with a Eli Willen RBI single in the bottom half of the fourth. 
  • A hustle play from Mackenzie Wainwright got the Bears within one as he scored from second on a possible inning ending double play ball in the 5th. 
  • The game remained 3-2 until the 9th, where the Mules took advantage of two throwing miscues from the Bears and added three insurance runs. 
  • LR could not get the tying run to the plate in the 9th against closer JD McReynolds as McReynolds threw three hitless innings out of the bullpen for  UCM.
STATS OF THE GAME:
  • Eli Willen had his fourth three-hit game of the year and tallied three of LR's eight hits.
  • Mackenzie Wainwright had a pair of hits and scored his 100th run of the year. 
  • Kellen Gradisar (11-4) went five innings and gave up just three runs (two earned)
  • Randan Rigdon threw three scoreless innings out of the pen, striking out five. 
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
  • Mackenzie Wainwright now holds the NCAA DII record with 230 total bases this season.
  • He also ranks fourth in DII history in single season hits (117) and runs (100).
  • Wainwright broke the SAC record for most hits in a single season. The old record was held by Catawba's Will Albertson, who had 114 hits in 2015.
  • Albertson also saw another one of his record broken earlier in the season when Carricato broke his RBI record. 
  • This was just the second game all season (2/4 vs. Barton) that LR failed ro record an extra base hit.
UP NEXT: The rubber match between these teams will take place on Thursday. Right now the game is scheduled for 3:00 PM. However rain is in the forecast for Thursday. Please stay tuned to all our social media channels for any updates. 
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