The Lenoir-Rhyne Baseball Team used another seventh-inning rally to pull away from the Cedarville Yellow Jackets 5-3, and complete the series sweep.

In their second-straight weekend sweep at Durham Field, the Bears got an early jump on the scoreboard thanks to a Tyler McPeak home run in the second inning.

Then in a series of small-ball events, the Bears scored on a balk, fielder’s choice, walk, and sacrifice fly en route to the 5-3 result.

As Andrew Patrick got the start, it was another winning decision for the bullpen as Brayden Collett collected his second win of the season. Braden Houston also moves to 4-4 on save opportunities this year with his second close of the weekend.

With the bats, the Yellow Jackets out-hit the Bears, 9-6, with the 2-3-4 stretch of the Cedarville order each getting two hits. But Wade Cuda stood out with his two-hit afternoon which included a triple, the second of the year for the Bears.

The Yellow Jackets will feel like they let a good opportunity slip away as they stranded 14 base runners in the game.

The Bears did an excellent job of keeping the Cedarville batters off base when they needed to with their 11 strikeouts; the Yellow Jackets only got three punchouts all day and they each came from starter Ethan Milburn.

Although Blake Bean and Cole Laskowski did not record a hit today, both players each scored two runs after getting walked aboard.

The winning pitcher in Collett had a tough appearance, allowing three hits and two runs in the top of the seventh, but with the Bears grabbing two runs in the bottom half of the seventh, the sophomore improved to 2-0.

After this weekend, the Bears’ bats are starting to find their groove as they are now hitting a .264 average and .798 OPS; both of which are better than their opponents

In the first ever meeting between Cedarville and Lenoir-Rhyne, the Bears now lead 3-0 over the Yellow Jackets in the all-time series.

The Bears now improve to 10-2 at Durham Field this season and have won six straight games in their friendly confides.

Lenoir-Rhyne will now enter a stretch with seven of their next eight games coming on the road; they currently have a 3-2 record away from Hickory, N.C.

The Bears only have more non-conference series in 2023 when they welcome St. Michael’s (VT) for a two-game series that starts on March 13.

This weekend series was the last home weekend set until Wingate travels to Durham Field for a three-game series on March 17.

Lenoir-Rhyne is 13-4 overall. The Bears will travel to Hartsville, S.C. for their second game of the season against Coker. The two teams met back on Feb. 7 when the Bears squeezed past the Cobras, 2-1