Hickory, NC – Southern Wesleyan fell in the final two games against the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears on Saturday in a 19-8 and 8-2 final scores.
Southern Wesleyan had 10 hits in the first game of the day. Travis Hammond led the team with two hits. Christopher Hund, Marty Grisso and Coleman Kelly each doubled. Kelly picked up three of the eight RBIs. The Warriors walked five times and had four stolen bases with Hammond leading the team with two. Both Grisso and Noah Wiggins were hit by pitches. Kyle Dixon started game one and pitched three innings with one strike out.
The Warriors put up three hits in the second game of the afternoon off the bats of Travis Hammond, Marty Grisso and Jackson Mix. Mix had a double. Hammond led the team with two RBIs. Southern Wesleyan walked eight times and Hammond had a stolen base. Steven Mufareh started game two of the afternoon. Jaylen Morgan, Gehrig Schreiber, Christopher Hund and Jackson Turner came in to pitch in relief. Schreiber led the team with three strikeouts while both Hund and Turner had two.
Game Vitals
Game One Final: Lenoir-Rhyne 19, Southern Wesleyan 8
Game Two Final: Lenoir-Rhyne 8, Southern Wesleyan 2
Records: Southern Wesleyan (1-6) Lenoir Rhyne (7-1)
How It Happened
Game One
The Bears charged out of the gate as they plated eight runs in the first four innings of the game.
Southern Wesleyan challenged in the top of the sixth inning. Travis Hammond led off with a single to center field and then stole second. However, an error on attempt to prevent the steal allowed Hammond to advance to third. With Hammond on third, Christopher Hund hit a double to left center field to bring Hammond in to score. Hund then stole third base. With one out, Marty Grisso drilled the ball down the left field line for a double that allowed Hund to come in to score.
Lenoir-Rhyne pushed on in the bottom of the sixth inning as a double by Wiggs and a single by Stallings allowed them to extend their lead to 12-2. The Bears continued their intensity at the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning as they brought two more runs in to score.
The Warriors challenged in the top of the eighth inning as they scored four more times. Chase Gribble came in to pinch hit for Christopher Hund and then walked. Cam Mitchem hit a single through the right side to advance Gribble to third base. A single off the bat of Blayze Haddock brought Gribble home and allowed Mitchem to advance to second. Noah Wiggins followed with a single through the right side to load up the bases. Luke Staton came in to pinch hit for Clay Porter and hit a single through the right side to bring Mitchem home. With the bases still loaded, Coleman Kelly hit a sacrifice fly out to right field to bring Haddock in to score. Griffin Pickhardt walked to load the bases back up and bring Jackson Mix up to bat. Mix grounded out to second base, but Wiggins was able to score on the play to put the Warriors behind the Bears 14-6.
Lenoir-Rhyne pushed on though as they scored five more times in the bottom of the eighth inning to extend their lead to 19-6.
With one out in the top of the ninth inning, Josh Long walked and then advanced to second as Noah Wiggins was hit by a pitch. A walk to Luke Staton loaded up the bases for Coleman Kelly. Kelly hit a double down the right field line to bring in two more runs for the Warriors. However, the Bears went on to win game one in a 19-8 run final score.
Game Two
Lenoir-Rhyne charged out of the gate in game two as Blackledge hit a home run over the left center field wall. A single by Stanford allowed the Bears to extend their lead to 2-0. They extended their led further in the bottom of the second inning as a ground out by Bean allowed the Bears to take a 3-0 run lead.
Southern Wesleyan countered in the top of the third inning. Jackson Mix led off with a double to right field. Clay Porter followed with a walk. Jason Culley laid down a sacrifice bunt to allow both Mix and Porter to advance a base. Travis Hammond singled to left field to bring both Mix and Porter home to cut the Bears lead down to one run.
The Bears regained their three run advantage in the bottom of the fourth inning off back-to-back doubles by St. John and Bean.
Lenoir-Rhyne would not relent as back-to-back home runs by Blackledge and Carricato extended their lead to 8-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Bears went on to win game two in a 8-2 final score.
What's Next
Southern Wesleyan will travel to Gaffney, SC to take on the Limestone Saints on February 13. The Warriors will host their first Conference Carolinas series of the season as they welcome the Belmont Abbey Crusaders to Dr C Keith Connor Field.
