March 9, 2008

Lenoir-Rhyne And Indiana (Pa.) Split Doubleheader In Baseball

IUP takes the first game while Lenoir-Rhyne wins the second contest

Hickory, N.C. – The Lenoir-Rhyne College Baseball Team (13-13) split a doubleheader with Indiana (Pa.) (6-2) on Sunday afternoon at Bears Field. IUP won the first game by an 8-3 score while Lenoir-Rhyne took the nightcap, 9-3.

Game One – Indiana (Pa.) 8, Lenoir-Rhyne 3
IUP rallied from a 2-0, first-inning deficit by scoring eight straight runs en route to the win.

The Hawks took the lead for good by plating three runs in the top of the second inning. Shawn Schwarz (Leechburg, Pa.) hit a two-run home run to tie the game before Paul Bingham’s (Hanover, Pa.) game-winning RBI single.

Bingham notched a run-scoring single in a three-run fourth inning and the Hawks concluded the scoring with two more runs in their half of the sixth.

Bingham finished with three hits and two RBI while T.J. Nichols (Sykesville, Pa.) went four-for-four to lead IUP offensively.

Junior first baseman Zachary Glass (Salisbury, N.C./Salisbury HS) led L-R with two hits and two runs batted in.

The Hawks’ Colby Betz (Dillsburg, Pa.) improved to 2-0 with the win while Corey Betz (Dillsburg, Pa.) pitched two scoreless innings for his second save in as many days.

Senior Josh Keller (Claremont, N.C./Methodist Coll.) fell to 3-2 with the loss for Lenoir-Rhyne.

Box Score

Game Two – Lenoir-Rhyne 9, Indiana (Pa.) 3
After spotting the Hawks a 2-0 advantage after a half-inning of play, the Bears reeled off nine straight runs to split the doubleheader.

L-R junior designated hitter Daniel Ford (Youngstown, Ohio/Manatee CC) drove in a run in each of the first and third innings to tie the score at two before the Bears took the lead for good with two more runs in the fourth inning.

A couple of sacrifice flies in the fifth inning pushed the lead to 6-2 before the Bears put the game away with three runs in the bottom of the sixth highlighted by an RBI double from freshman shortstop Anthony Sully (Charlotte, N.C./Hopewell HS).

Ford led L-R with three hits and three runs batted in while junior Greg Conrad (Charlotte, N.C./Olympic HS) went the distance for the Bears. Conrad allowed just one earned run to go along with four strikeouts in improving to 2-2 on the season.

IUP’s Jake Rougeaux (Indiana, Pa.) fell to 1-1 with the loss.

Box Score

Lenoir-Rhyne next hosts Bluefield State (W.Va.) on Wednesday in a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.