For the second time in two days, the Lenoir-Rhyne Baseball Team defeated Carson-Newman, 7-4, to survive in the opening round of the SAC Tournament.

Unlike their first contest of the day, the Bears got a much more resounding start with a couple crooked innings with a three-run second and a two-run third.

LR was in the driver’s seat for most of the game until the Eagles cut into their deficit with a three-run eighth inning. But the Bears were able to register an insurance run in the home half of the eighth to set up another matchup with Newberry.

Zach Evans had a great showing at the plate with a 3-for-4 day and team-most three RBIs. In addition, Sal Carricato, Cole Laskowski and Cole Nelson all had multi-hit days for LR.

In what was the best offensive output of the weekend for the Bears, LR looks to carry the momentum into the final day of the weekend, looking to beat the Wolves twice on their home field.

Joshua Lanham tossed his longest performance of the season with a 7.2 innings outing; the redshirt junior allowed seven hits and two earned runs while striking out two batters. It was not the cleanest night cap from both sides with five combined errors; the Eagles committed one more error than the Bears with their three mistakes compared to LR’s two.

There were plenty of base runners stranded with Carson-Newman leaving 12 out on the paths while LR left nine of their own on base. Spencer Floyd earned his fourth save of the season after an impressive inning on the mound. The sophomore struck out three Eagles batters and only allowed one base runner.

Evans earned his first triple of the season in the third inning; it was the redshirt sophomore’s second RBI of three on the evening. With the win, LR is now 6-3 in all-time meetings against Carson-Newman at the SAC Baseball Tournament.

With multiple wins in the 2023 edition of the SAC Tournament, it is the first time the Bears have won multiple game in back-to-back tournaments since 2001-02. With the victory, LR is now 26-33 all-time in the SAC Baseball Tournament.

In their all-time series history, Carson-Newman now leads Lenoir-Rhyne with a 64-39 record. The Bears were caught stealing on two separate occasions; it is the fifth time this season that LR has been caught trying to advance in multiple situations.

The Lenoir-Rhyne Baseball Team continues to have their backs against the wall as they face the hosts, Newberry, on Sunday, April 30 at 2:00 p.m. In order to advance to the SAC Baseball Championship Series, the Bears will have to beat the Wolves two times in a row.