The Lincoln University baseball team concluded their spring trip on Saturday, dropping both ends of a doubleheader against Benedict College 22-2 and 5-3 at Tiger Field in Columbia South Carolina.

The Lions fall to 0-7 on the season.   Benedict improves to 6-6 with the doubleheader sweep.

Rolando Alvarez (Brooklyn, N.Y./Nazareth Regional HS) pitched a complete game in the nightcap, striking out six and allowing seven hits.  In the opening game, Jeremiah Hoskins (Chicago, Ill./Harlan Community Academy HS) started and pitched four innings, allowing 12 runs on ten hits while striking out two.  Alvarez falls to 0-3 on the season while Hoskins is now 0-1.

Dominic Rheubottom (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Polytech HS) had a total of four hits in the two games, including a solo home run in the opener.  Aiden Gomes had a home run in the nightcap and Kashif Hill (Brooklyn, N.Y./Benjamin Banneker Academy) had an RBI double.   Willie Hines (Bowie, Md./Bowie HS) recorded two hits in the opener.

The Lions jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in game two, as Rheubottom was hit by a pitch to start the offense in the first inning.  Hines sacrificed him to second and Hill followed with a double to center field, scoring Rheubottom with Lincoln's first run.  Hill later scored on an error by Tiger pitcher Brian Nevils following Malcolm Smith (Los Angeles, Calif./Susan Miller Dorsey HS)'s single.

Benedict tied the score in the bottom half of the third inning with and RBI single by Armando Valentin followed by an RBI double from David White.

The score remained 2-2 until the bottom of the sixth inning when the Tigers plated three runs to take a 5-2 lead.  The big blow was Chris Harpers one out double which plated two runs.

Gomes hit a one-out home run to left field in the Lions final at-bat in the seventh inning to make the final score 5-3.

In the opener, four Benedict pitchers limited the Lions to just four hits while their offense caught fire with a season high 22 runs as Lincoln fell 22-2.

White drove in four runs with two doubles and a grand slam home run while Joseph Macaluso had five RBI on a solo home run and also hit a grand slam.  The two grand slam home runs came in the sixth inning, tying an NCAA division II record for most grand slams in an inning.

The Tigers banged out 19 hits in the game, ten for extra bases (six home runs).

Trailing, 4-0, the Lions got on the board in the top of the third as Rheubottom hit his first collegiate home run, a blast over the left field fence.  Hines followed with a single, stole second and advanced on Hill's ground out but was left stranded as the inning ended with Lincoln down, 4-1.

Benedict added two runs in the bottom of the third and five more in the fourth to lead 11-1 before the Lions scored in the top half of the fifth when Rheubottom scored on a two-base error by Valentin. 

The Tigers added two more in the fifth and struck for nine more in the sixth via the two grand slams and a solo home run to round out the scoring.

The Lincoln baseball team will return to action on Thursday, March 15, 2018 when they play University of the Sciences in a single game at Richie Ashburn Field in Philadelphia.  First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p-.m.