OXFORD, Pa. (April 2, 2011) — All of a sudden, the Lincoln University baseball team is very much alive in the postseason hunt after the program's biggest sweep in recent history if not ever.

Lincoln defeated 2010 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) runners-up Virginia State University 4-3 in both games at Oxford Area High School on Saturday afternoon with both victories coming in the team's final at bat.

In the first game, Phillip Tomsic (Bangor, Mich./Bangor HS) singled home Melvin Robinson (Bear, DE/William Penn) and Kyle Brooks (Baltimore, Md./Seton Hill HS) in extra innings, and in the second game, Demitrius Morris (Newark, Del./Hodgson Vo-Tech)' laced shot to right center plated Tomsic to complete the first-ever sweep for the Lions over the Trojans.

Brooks earned the win in each contest, pitching a complete game in the second game after relieving Morris for the eighth and final inning of the opener. In all, Brooks pitched eight innings, allowing just four runs, three earned, while walking and striking out three.

“This just shows that we're getting up and coming,” Brooks said. “We're just going to continue to get better, and in the future, we can do anything.”

At the plate, Morris had two RBIs in game two. In the opener, three different Lions had multi-hit games. Robinson was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and a stolen base while Steve Talmo (New Castle, Del./William Penn HS) and Dan Spikes (Fort Washington, Md./Riverdale Baptist HS) each had a pair of singles.

LU (5-15) has now won three of its last four conference games and sits at 5-13 in league play. That brings the Lions three wins back of the fourth and final spot to qualify for the CIAA Championships held later this month at, ironically, Virginia State in Petersburg, Va.

With two weeks to go in the season and a eight conference games to be played, what seemed unthinkable now seems possible.

Brooks, though, was in danger of being the goat at one point. With  the gamee knotted at 2-2 and runners at the corners in the top of the eighth, VSU (16-16, 13-10) employed a delayed steal at first. Brooks stepped off and approached the runner, and as he did, the Trojan on third predictably raced home. Lincoln had the play stopped, but Brooks' throw to the plate sailed high and the go-ahead run scored.

When Brooks stepped up to bat in the bottom half of the inning with Robinson on first and two men down, his thought process was simple.

“I had to redeem myself,” he said. “I wasn't going to strike out.”

So he waged a 12-pitch battle with Darryl Springfield and ultimately drew a walk to prolong the game, fouling off half a dozen pitches from the hard-throwing right-hander.

“That's the epitome of resiliency to draw a walk to give us the chance to get to another hitter,” head coach Anthony Plá said.

Steve Talmo singled to shallow right, but Plá held Robinson at third, a wise decision considering earlier in the game, Morris had been gunned down at the plate on a similar play.

Up came Tomsic with the bases loaded. Mired in a 0-for-4 day at the plate, all strikeouts, he batted the ball through the left side, scoring Robinson and Brooks for the 4-3 win.

“We can go out and compete and beat anybody,” Tomsic said. “I struggled in my first few at-bats but it's nice to come out and help my team.”

In game two, Virginia State scored in the seventh inning to tie the game at 3-3. To lead off the bottom of the frame, Tomsic smacked a routine groundball to short, but the throw to first came in high and went out of bounds, moving the sophomore left fielder into scoring position. After moving to third on a passed ball, Morris drove a ball deep over the drawn-in right-fielder for the walk-off single as Tomsic came home uncontested.

Up next

With playoff berths at stake for the Lions, the Lions host Chowan University at 1 p.m. on Monday at the Oxford Athletic Association.

— LU —