GAFFNEY, S.C. – Trailing by seven runs following the seventh-inning stretch, the Limestone College baseball team rallied to tie the game with a seven-run frame before walking off with a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 10^th for a 12-11 win over Lenoir-Rhyne University on Tuesday, April 17.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Score: Limestone 12, Lenoir-Rhyne 11
Records: Limestone (19-25), Lenoir-Rhyne (26-19)
Location: Founders FCU Stadium
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
 

• Junior John Staab (Cockeysville, Md.) went 3-for-5 with a homerun and two RBIs
• Senior Brandon Etheridge (Cartersville, Ga.) was a homerun shy of hitting for the cycle
• Senior Zach Piazza (Huntingtown, Md.) added three base hits, including a double
• Junior Channing Painton (Marietta, Ga.) finished with two hits and two RBIs
• Sophomore Kyle Strovink (Rocky Point, N.Y.) also tallied two knocks and two RBIs
• Junior Justin Mack (Baltimore, Md.) chipped in a double and two RBIs
• Junior Zach Garick (Northport, N.Y.) doubled and finished with two RBIs
• Junior Chase Allen (Sharpsburg, Ga.) walked three times and had the game-winning hit
• Senior Michael Todd Harris (Union, S.C.) tossed three scoreless innings to pick up the win

 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Innings 1-3
 
The Bears grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second on a two-run homerun, but the Saints tied things up in the home half of the stanza on an RBI groundout by Painton and a run-scoring wild pitch. However, a grand slam powered a five-run top of the third as Lenoir-Rhyne regained the lead, 7-2, through three innings.
 
Innings 4-6
 
Lenoir-Rhyne continued to pull away from the Blue and Gold as they extended the margin to 11-2 with a single marker in the fourth and a three-spot an inning later. Limestone would start to blaze the comeback trail in the fifth though as Staab launch a two-run homerun over the wall in left to cut the lead to seven.  
 
Innings 7-9
 
Trailing by seven going into the bottom of the seventh, a leadoff homer by Kyle Strovink sparked a seven-run spurt as the Saints sent 13 men to the plate in the decisive frame. Following a pair of walks, Painton tallied an RBI base knock before Mack trimmed the gap to 11-8 with a two-run single a few batters later.
 
Limestone continued the big inning as a wild pitch, a sacrifice fly by Garick and a bases-loaded infield single by Etheridge tied the contest at 11-all. The Saints would have an opportunity to push across the go-ahead run with the bases juiced and two gone, but Lenoir-Rhyne escaped the jam to force extras.   
 
Extra Innings
 
After Harris retired the Bears in order in the top of the 10^th, Etheridge started the home half by getting hit by a pitch before Painton chased him to third on a hit-and-run back up the middle. With the bases juiced three batters later, Allen laced a walk-off single to left as the Saints completed the 12-11 comeback win.
 
TURNING POINT
 
A two-run homerun by Staab in the fifth seemed insignificant at the time, but that would start a string of 11 unanswered runs to close the game for the Saints. Kyle Strovink then hit a solo homerun in the seventh to spark a seven-run frame before Limestone walked off with a 12-11 win in the bottom of the 10^th.
 
NOTABLES
 

• Limestone pounded out 16 hits and worked 10 walks, but left 18 men on base for the game
• The Saints evened the season series with Lenoir-Rhyne
• Etheridge single, double and tripled as part of his three-hit night
• Sophomore Taylor Moose (Charleston, S.C.) threw 2.1 scoreless innings out of the pen

 
UP NEXT
 
Limestone will wrap up the 2018 regular season when they host the University of Mount Olive for a three-game Conference Carolinas series on Friday, April 20, and Saturday, April 21.