HARROGATE, Tenn. – UVa-Wise and Lincoln Memorial University split a baseball doubleheader on Wednesday. The host Railsplitters overcame a 5-1 deficit to post an 8-7 win in the opener before the Cavaliers scored eight times in the first five innings of game two en route to a 10-5 victory.
UVa-Wise (6-13) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning of the day's first game as Tyler Hutson and Brett Hylton each lined RBI singles. A half inning later, Lincoln Memorial (13-15) cut the lead to one due to an errant throw by UVa-Wise.
The score would remain 2-1 until the fourth inning when Ty Marshall had a two-RBI double and Ty Lighton had an RBI single for the Cavs to extend the visitors advantage to 5-1. The Railsplitters would again cut the lead to one, this time on a three-run home run off the bat of Josh Coker. Lincoln Memorial would take a lead it would not relinquish in the fifth inning as the team pushed across four runs on four hits, the big blow in the inning was a two-RBI double by Coker.
Trailing 8-5, the Cavs would mount a rally in the seventh and final inning. Tommy Meier and Hutson each had an RBI in the inning but UVa-Wise was unable to push across the tying run as Coker moved to the mound to record the save.
Game two saw the Cavs post a 5-2 lead after three innings of play. UVa-Wise dented the scoreboard in the second inning on an RBI double by Nick Impellizzeri and added a second run on a Lincoln Memorial error. The Railsplitters would score a single run in the bottom of the second inning only to see the Cavs score three in the top of the third on a three-run home run by Hylton. Again, Lincoln Memorial would score a single run in its half of the frame to make it a three-run UVa-Wise lead moving to the top of the fourth inning.
The Cavs would score three more runs over the next two innings. In the fourth frame, Meier had an RBI sacrifice fly before Lighton and Steven Allen each added an RBI in the fifth. UVa-Wise would blow the game open in the sixth as Impellizzeri tallied his second and third RBIs of the game on a base hit scoring Hutson and Meier extending the lead to eight at 10-2.
Lincoln Memorial would mount a comeback over the final two innings. Lee Agosto and Curt Fuqua each had an RBI in the sixth inning to cut the lead to six, 10-4. Following a scoreless visiting half of the seventh, the Railsplitters threatened again in the game's final inning. Nick Pressley led off the inning with a double and moved to third base one batter latter on a single by Nick Morabito. Pressley would score on a groundout by Nolan Woody to make the score 10-5. The run was the first run of the season allowed by UVa-Wise freshman Jacob Huff. Huff cooled the Lincoln Memorial rally by retiring Brandon Morris and Colin Buckner to end the game.
Cody Compton started the game on the mound for UVa-Wise and tossed 5.2 innings, striking out seven, walking four, and allowing three earned runs. The mound victory was the first for Compton in a Cavalier uniform.
UVa-Wise will return to play on Friday when the team returns to Mid-South play at Campbellsville University.
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