HICKORY, N.C. - The Lenoir-Rhyne Baseball team faced a 6-0 deficit on Saturday afternoon but quickly turned the tide on the Columbus State Cougars. After not scoring in the first inning the Bears scored in each of the their final seven innings of the game, including 14 unanswered from innings two through six. This scoring outburst propelled the Bears to a 16-11 win.
Michael Burnley came in relief in the 3rd inning and threw five innings to pick up his first win as a Bear.
Mackenzie Wainwright led the Bears attack at the plate with three hits, including his first home run of the season. In total the Bears racked up 13 hits as eight of the Bears starters notched a hit today.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: #6 Lenoir-Rhyne 16, Columbus State 11
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (2-0), Columbus State (0-4)
Location: Hickory, N.C. | Durham Field
STORY OF THE GAME:
- Columbus State took a early 6-0 lead after scoring three runs in the first two innings.
- After that it was all LR as the Bears scored the next 14 runs in the game.
- The Bears scored four runs in the fourth and four in the sixth.
- Cougars scored five runs late but could not get the tying run to the plate in the ninth as the Bears held on for a 16-11 victory.
- Bears had the lead-off hitter on in six of the eight innings. Cougars walked the first batter of the inning four times.
STATS OF THE GAME:
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
- Wainwright becomes the first player in program history to have 25 home runs and 25 stolen bases.
- LR had four sacrifice flys in the game today.
- Lackey has reached base 9 times in this series so far.
- Lackey and Matt Procopio each have seven RBIs so far this weekend.
- Sylas Boris leads the team with six runs scored in two games.
UP NEXT: Lenoir-Rhyne will look for the sweep tomorrow in the series final. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. from Durham Field.
