Marcus Johnson
Graduate Marcus Johnson went seven strong innings for the Saints on Monday, allowing just three runs in his final home start.
12
Winner Lenoir-Rhyne LRBB 20-13
5
Limestone LU 14-17
Winner
Lenoir-Rhyne LRBB
20-13
12
Final
5
Limestone LU
14-17
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Lenoir-Rhyne LRBB 0 3 0 0 4 0 5 12 12 0
Limestone LU 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 7 3

W: Andrew Patrick (6-2) L: Busse, Cory (4-2)

9
Winner Lenoir-Rhyne LRBB 21-13
4
Limestone LU 14-18
Winner
Lenoir-Rhyne LRBB
21-13
9
Final
4
Limestone LU
14-18
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Lenoir-Rhyne LRBB 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 6 0 9 10 3
Limestone LU 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 4 6 3

W: Joshua Lanham (6-0) L: Johnson, Marcus (0-4)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Ernest Meyers, Assistant A.D. for Media Relations

Limestone Drops Final Two Home Games of 2021

GAFFNEY, S.C. – The Limestone University baseball team struggled at the dish over its final two home games of the 2021 season, combining for just 13 hits and nine runs over both contests, as Lenoir-Rhyne University collected a doubleheader sweep and the series win with 12-5 and 9-4 decisions on Monday.
 
GAME 1 INFORMATION
Score: Lenoir-Rhyne 12, Limestone 5
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (20-13, 17-10), Limestone (14-17, 12-14)
Location: Founders FCU Stadium
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
 
  • Junior Benjamin Huber (Pendleton, S.C.) went 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs
  • Senior Brian Forbes (Rocky Point, N.Y.) finished with a double and two RBIs
  • Senior Alex Cornell (Columbia, Conn.) added a single, two walks, and a stolen base
  • Sophomore Grant Belanger (Greer, S.C.) tallied a base hit and a sacrifice bunt
  • Junior starter Cory Busse (Wonder Lake, Ill.) took the loss to fall to 4-2 on the year
  • Busse allowed seven runs – three earned – on seven hits and four walks in five innings of work
  • Lenoir-Rhyne recorded 12 base hits in game one of the doubleheader
  • Limestone collected seven hits with three coming in the first inning and two knocks in the seventh
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
With a runner on second and one gone in the bottom of the first, Limestone put up a crooked number as Huber singled over the shortstop's head – a wicked hop that found its way into the outfield – before Forbes split the gap in left-center a few batters later for a two-run double, making it a 3-0 game early on.
 
The Bears quickly tied the game with three tallies in the top of the second, using three straight base hits to push home a pair of runs before a suicide squeeze evened it at 3-all. That score would hold true until the fifth when Lenoir-Rhyne used a leadoff error as a catalyst to plate four markers and move in front, 7-3.
 
Offensively, the Saints did not have much working after their three-run first inning as they combined for just two hits over the next five frames. After the Bears put the game out of reach with a five-run seventh, Limestone attempted to rally in the bottom half with an RBI infield single by Huber and bases-loaded walk drawn by senior pinch-hitter Michael Roberts (Mount Airy, N.C.), but LR would close out the 12-5 victory.
 
GAME 2 INFORMATION
Score: Lenoir-Rhyne 9, Limestone 4
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (21-13, 18-10), Limestone (14-18, 12-15)
Location: Founders FCU Stadium
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
 
  • Graduate starter Marcus Johnson (Lexington, Ky.) went seven strong innings in a losing effort
  • The southpaw allowed just three runs on seven hits and a walk, but had no run support
  • Graduate Trace Whetsell (Gilbert, S.C.) doubled and finished with two RBIs
  • Cornell also finished with a double and an RBI
  • Graduate Josh Evans (Indian Land, S.C.) added a base hit and a walk
  • Huber singled and scored twice while Roberts collected a pinch-hit single
  • Senior Tyler O'Dell (North Hanover, N.J.) chipped in a base knock
  • Sophomore reliever Jeremiah Stewart (Woodruff, S.C.) tossed a scoreless inning with a strikeout
  • Limestone went six straight innings without a base hit, posting just six hits in the nightcap
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Johnson was able to work around a leadoff single and an error to start the first, leaving two Bears stranded, before his offense gave him a 1-0 lead in the home half. With a runner on first and one gone, Cornell roped an RBI double into the leftfield corner to chase home the go-ahead score for Limestone.
 
After giving up a one-out single in the second, Johnson began dealing as he retired eight of the next nine Lenoir-Rhyne batters. The Saints would then capitalize on a pair of defensive miscues by the visitors in the bottom of the fourth, platting an unearned run to make it 2-0 on a dropped fly ball by the rightfielder.
 
The Bears cut the margin in half, 2-1, with a leadoff homerun in the sixth, but Johnson would limit the damage after he caught a one-out base runner napping at first. It appeared that he picked off another runner in the seventh to end the inning, but the home plate umpire ruled the batter was not in the box.  
 
That batter would then lay down a bunt single on the very next pitch before Lenoir-Rhyne jumped in front, 3-2, with a two-out, two-run double that sailed over Cornell's head in left-center. The Bears expanded the lead to 9-2 in the eighth as they sent 11 men to the dish for a decisive six-run frame against the bullpen.
 
Limestone recorded its first hit since the first inning with a one-out base knock in the eighth before logging half of the team's hits in the ninth. O'Dell and Roberts both singled with one out before Whetsell drove both runners home with a two-run double, but it was not enough as the Bears completed the sweep, 9-4.  
 
UP NEXT
 
Entering the final weekend of the 2021 season, the Saints are clinging to the eighth and final playoff spot in their first year in the South Atlantic Conference. Limestone will travel to Greeneville, Tenn. looking to lock in a postseason reservation next weekend as it takes on Tusculum University in a four-game series.  
 
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