Lindenwood baseball dropped two out of three games in a series against Little Rock over the Easter holiday weekend.
The series drops the team’s season long cumulative record to 7-19, including a 2-4 record within Ohio Valley Conference play.
In the opening game of the weekend, the Lions dropped the game by a score of 3-2, with the Trojans riding a two run sixth inning to victory. Lindenwood starter Zach Buschschulte went seven innings, allowing only one earned run on six hits, and striking out three batters. He was relieved by Carson Subbert, who pitched the final two innings, only allowing one hit. The entirety of the Lions’ offense came in the third inning, when center fielder Kam Edwards stole second, allowing Evan Funkhouser to steal home on the throw. Edwards was then driven in during the next at bat, by a single from Colin Shea.
The Lions proved victorious in the second game of the series, winning 7-1. The team backed a quality start from pitcher Eli Brown offensively by scoring early and often. Brown went six and a third innings, allowing no runs, five hits, and striking out two batters. Preston Salazar relieved Brown, going two and two-thirds of an inning, allowing two hits, and one earned run.
The offense was kickstarted in the third inning, when Anthony Stellato singled to centerfield to drive in Edwards. The team added two more runs in the fourth inning, when Logan Stevens doubled down the left field line to score Bryson Arnette, and was then brought home by Edwards on a sacrifice fly. The Lions were able to add three more runs in the sixth, with Stevens again starting the rally, doubling in James Jett. Shea reached on an error to follow, allowing two runners, Jack Meyer and Stevens to score. Finally, in the eighth inning, Shea was able to add another RBI, driving in Funkhouser on a single to center field.
In the final game of the weekend, the Lions lost by their greatest deficit of the weekend, dropping the game by a score of 7-3. The Lions struck first offensively, as Mitch Cummins scored on a wild pitch in the first inning. However, after a five-run second inning by the Trojans, Lindenwood was in an early hole. Lions starter Josh Newell went three and two-thirds of an inning, allowing six earned runs on seven hits, and striking out two batters. The Lions’ bullpen combined for over five innings allowing no earned runs. Bennett Stice, Aaron Jungers, and Subbert each held the Trojans scoreless, while Michael Walsh allowed an unearned run to score on an error. In the third inning, the Lions scored again, and for the final time in the game, as Cummins doubled in a pair of runs.
The Lions now head to Carbondale, Illinois for a single game matchup with Southern Illinois University on April 2, and then return home the following day to play Blackburn College. The first pitch for that game is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 3.
