The middle innings proved to be the Lincoln University baseball team's undoing as Benedict College scored 11 total runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings erasing Lion leads of 4-3 and 6-5 as they went on to defeat Lincoln 16-8 Tuesday at tiger field in Columbia, South Carolina.

The loss drops the Lions record to 3-6 while Benedict improves to 5-2, completing a sweep of the two-game series.

Ronald Lashley (Brooklyn, N.Y./Benjamin Banneker Academy) and Joshua Roberson (Germantown, Md./Seneca Valley HS) hit solo home runs while Aiden Gomes (Bronx, N.Y./LaSalle Academy) went 2-3 with a run scored. Roberson's solo shot was his team-leading third of the season.  Lashley's blast was his first of 2017.   Marquis Coleman (Middle River , Md./Baltimore Polytech HS) drove in two runs with a single.  Brendan Sherman-Johnson (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Polytech HS) took the loss pitching 2? innings in relief of starter DeVante Parker who went 3? innings.  Sherman-Johnson gave up nine runs (six earned) on 10 hits while striking out two.   Parker allowed three runs on two hits while striking out two and walking seven batters.   
Ricardo Pagan earned the win for the Tigers; pitching seven innings of relief after starter Murrell martin could not retire a batter in the top half of the first.  David white went 3-for-5 with four RBI to pace the Benedict offense.

Lincoln jumped out to an early lead in the first inning, scoring three times in the first at-bat.  Lashley and Michael Howard (Bronx, N.Y./Utica College) walked and Parker followed with a single to score Lashley.  Both Howard and Parker later scored on passed balls.

Benedict countered with three runs off Parker in their half of the first.  After two walks to start the inning, White singled and advanced on an error which allowed the two walked batters to score.   White later scored on a passed ball, tying the game at 3-3.

Lashley's solo home run to left field put the Lions back on top 4-3.  The blast was his first collegiate home run and came with two outs in the inning.

The Tigers retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth on Reinaldo Santiago's two-run single.  Santiago was later thrown out at the plate on a solid throw from center fielder Julian Bradshaw (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooklyn Generation HS) to catcher Christian Gil (Staten Island, N.Y./LaSalle Academy) to end the inning.

Coleman put the Lions back on top, 6-5 with a two-out two run single through the left side, scoring Gomes and Roberson who had both walked earlier in the inning.

The floodgates opened in the bottom of the sixth inning as Benedict sent eight players to the plate, scoring five times on five hits.   White drove in two with a single while Joel Marzano and Robert Troiano both doubled in runs to highlight the inning and give the Tigers a 10-6 lead.

Lincoln got two runs back in the top of the seventh as Lashley walked and stole second and later scored on Sherman-Johnson's groundout.  Roberson followed with his third home run of the season, a solo shot over the center field fence to make the score 10-8.

Benedict added four more insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh and two more in the eighth to make the final margin 16-8.

Lincoln returns to action on Friday, March 10, 2017 when they play a doubleheader at Paine College in Augusta, Georgia.  First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.