ALBANY, Ga. – Senior Elias Beltre (New York, N.Y./LAM International School) and sophomore Sheldon Johnson (Pittsburgh Pa./Woodland Hills) combined for six hits and four RBI as the Lincoln University baseball team opened the 2021 campaign with the 25-8 loss to Albany State Thursday at Golden Rams Field.

Beltre (New York, N.Y./LAM International School) recorded the first four-hit game of his career, going 4-for-4 with a double and stolen base. Johnson (Pittsburgh, Pa./Woodland Hills) provided the bulk of the offense, going 2-for-3 with a double, home run, and three RBI.

Lincoln took the lead in the top of the first inning as senior Kashif Hill (Brooklyn, N.Y./Benjamin Banneker Academy) (Brooklyn, N.Y./Benjamin Banneker Academy) opened the game with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice, and then scored as redshirt sophomore Willie Hines (Bowie, Md./Bowie) (Bowie, Md./Bowie) was caught in a rundown.

Albany State tallied three runs in the first and four in the third to take a 7-1 lead.

Johnson opened the fourth with his first career homer, a towering shot out to leftfield. He pulled Lincoln to with 7-4 on a two-run double in the fifth.

The Golden Rams broke the game open with a pair of runs in the fifth, seven more in the sixth, and one in the seventh.

Freshman Hilman Truss (Hamilton, N.J./Hamilton West) (West Hamilton, N.J./West Hamilton) and freshman Josiah Lara (Plant City Fla./Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy) (Plant City, Fla./Carlos Beltran Academy) had RBI in the four-run eighth, and then ASU capped the scoring with an eight-run eighth.

Senior Rolando Alvarez (Brooklyn, N.Y./Nazareth Regional), 0-1, (Brooklyn, N.Y./Nazareth Regional) allowed nine runs, seven earned, on 10 hits in 4.1 innings.

The Lions return to the diamond noon Friday to conclude the three-game series with a doubleheader.