The Lenoir-Rhyne Baseball Team survived a late game push from Coker to win their first game at Durham Field this season, with a 2-1 final.

Andy Cook shined in his first collegiate start, striking out four Cobra batters and only allowing two hits and one unearned run in the winning decision.

Braden Houston ran into a little difficulty on the mound in the ninth inning, as Coker got two runners in scoring position, but the redshirt senior got the clutch strikeout to close out the mid-week tilt.

The only offense from the contest came in the fifth inning which was started by Coker’s Jaylen Mack scoring from third on a pass ball to give the visitors the one-run lead.

Lenoir-Rhyne dialed up an immediate response when Cole Stanford slashed a solo home run out to left field to square the score at one. Later in the frame, Blake Bean drove Tyler McPeak home on a two-out RBI single to give the Bears the first lead of the afternoon which eventually was the difference maker in the outcome.

Despite the one-run difference in the result, the Bears had more than double the number of hits compared to the Cobras with Lenoir-Rhyne recording nine hits and Coker recording four. The Bears had more opportunities to cash in runs, but failed to capitalize on those chances with leaving 11 runners on base while the Cobras only stranded four aboard

Bean had a perfect day at the plate, going 3-3 for the Bears, all three hits going for singles which included the game-winning RBI. Coach Ramirez used four pitchers out of the bullpen after Cook’s start, each going for 1.0 inning pitched; the efforts of Scott Meitzler, Gavin Marley, Caleb Cockerham, and Braden Houston combined for four strikeouts and allowing only two hits.

Lenoir-Rhyne’s offense had better success with damage at the plate with a .857 OPS, which helped improved their team OPS to a .639.

With the victory, Lenoir-Rhyne now leads the all-time series matchup record, 19-13. The Bears now have a four-game winning streak against Coker, which is tied for the longest win streak for the Bears against the Cobras in their series history.

After dropping their home opener, the Bears get back into the win column at home; Back in 2022, Lenoir-Rhyne had enormous success at home with a 25-2 record. Despite this contest being against a South Atlantic Conference opponent, the result does not affect their conference record since it was considered as a non-conference game.

Lenoir-Rhyne and Coker will face off against each other in less than a month on March 1 at Hartsville, S.C. It will be the first time the Bears will travel to Coker since March 26, 2019.

The Bears are 3-2 on the season. They will host 9th ranked Illinois-Springfield for a weekend series, with a single game Friday at 3pm and a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 1pm.