The Wingate Baseball Team scored in each of the last four innings to grab an 8-5 victory over LR Sunday afternoon. The Bulldogs comeback secured the series sweep and handed the Bears their first three-game losing streak this season.

After a difficult outing on Saturday, the Bears competed much better on Sunday while leading 3-1 through five innings. But the bats got cooking for the Bulldogs especially for Sean Barnett, who crushed a three-run home run in the seventh.

That inning alone was the biggest for the Bulldogs all weekend long; the four-run frame built their lead up to three and put the Bears out of reach.

While only combining for four runs in the first two games, the Bears offense had a better showing on Sunday especially with Tyler McPeak, who recorded his third home run of the series. The graduate student led all LR batters with two RBIs and five total bases.

Blake Bean recorded a RBI single in the fifth inning to extend his hitting streak to 13. The Bears turned a single-game most three double plays on Sunday; They came in three consecutive innings from the fourth through the sixth.

Wingate had a much better day at finding the gap with five extra-base hits compared to LR only getting one. In a competitive contest, the Bulldogs got creative with their runs, including two sacrifice flyouts to get their seventh and eighth run. With the Braden Houston loss, it is the first time this season that a LR relief pitcher was handed the losing decision.

This is the second time in the last three series in Hickory that Wingate has swept LR. In the last four series at Durham Field, Wingate has a 10-3 record over LR. This win for Wingate was their 60th conference victory over LR; the Bears and Bulldogs have met 96 times in conference play.

The three-game losing streak is the longest the Bears have been dealt since losing four straight from March 22-26, 2022.

After this series, the Bears and Bulldogs are now tied for fourth in the SAC, based on winning percentage.

The Bears fall to 22-8 overall, 6-3 in the South Atlantic Conference. LR will continue their eight-game home stand when they welcome Mars Hill for a three-game series starting on Friday, March 24. First pitch for the series opener is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.