The Lenoir-Rhyne Baseball Team scored four runs in the bottom of the second inning followed by a gutsy bullpen performance to defeat the No. 1 ranked North Greenville Crusaders, 5-3.

In a rematch from the 2022 Southeast Regional, the Bears were looking to make it back-to-back wins over the Crusaders at Durham Field. While Joey Cobb got the start in last year’s meeting, the redshirt junior had a much better outing on Tuesday.

Cobb (W, 2-0) went five solid innings where he struck out seven batters while only allowing three hits and one earned run.

The Bears were able to erase an early 1-0 deficit thanks to a Zach Evans RBI single. The redshirt sophomore drove in two runs to give his team the lead, and they never looked back.

As LR was able to extend its advantage to four, North Greenville had moments to get back in the matchup. Although the Crusaders cut the Bears lead down to two, Spencer Floyd and Braden Houston combined for five strikeouts over the final two innings to seal the Bears victory.

Sal Carricato and Tyler McPeak led the way for the Bears by each getting two base hits. Braden Houston recorded his sixth save of the season; it is his first since March 7 against Catawba.

LR was a tough team to strikeout on the night with only going down at the plate two times; it is the fewest strikeouts the Bears have suffered in a single game this season. With the victory, LR has now won five consecutive mid-week matchups. In those games, they have outscored their opponents, 67-21.

Despite the loss, North Greenville had five extra-base hits on the evening with a Cory Bivins home run bundled with doubles by Marek Chlup, David Lewis, Jalen Vasquez, and Bivins.

With the victory, Lenoir-Rhyne has now won 30 games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2001-02. Lenoir-Rhyne now leads the all-time series over North Greenville, 17-12.

North Greenville’s all-time series long winning streak was snapped at three, giving the Bears their first victory over the Crusaders since May 20, 2022. The Bears now have a 9-4 record at home against the Crusaders in their all-time series history.

LR is now 4-2 against ranked opponents this season. All four wins have come at Durham Field.

The Bears move to 30-8 on the season. Lenoir-Rhyne will start a three-game series against the Tusculum Pioneers on Friday, April 7 at 5:00 p.m.