HobbsDailyReport.com
HICKORY – Lenoir-Rhyne University opened its home baseball schedule on Friday with a split against visiting West Virginia State.
The Yellow Jackets won the first game 4-1 before the Bears took the nightcap 12-8 to improve to 4-1 heading into an 11 a.m. start against West Virginia State on Saturday.
West Virginia State 4, LRU 1
The Yellow Jackets scored twice in each of the first two innings en route to a victory that was led by Brandon Wright scoring two runs.
Junior first baseman Alex Reynolds had a run-scoring single and junior Hunter Martin took the loss for LRU, which gave up only one hit after the first inning.
Colby Gainer (1-0) got a win for West Virginia State and Tyrel Panter pitched two scoreless innings in relief to gain a save.
LRU 12, West Virginia State 8
The Bears opened a 12-0 lead that included a nine-run fourth inning.
Senior outfielder Marcus Shoemaker hit a two-run home run and drove in three runs to lead the Bears.
Reynolds and redshirt freshman Will Jones each had two-run singles for LRU, which had 11 hits, and senior Matt Sullivan (2-0) was the winning pitcher.
Ryan McDonough hit a three-run home run in the ninth inning for the Yellow Jackets, who scored the game’s final eight runs.
The Yellow Jackets’ Hunter Bradley (0-1) was tagged with the loss.
- Reported by LRU Sports Information