BRIDGEPORT, CT – The Lincoln University baseball earned an East Coast Conference doubleheader split with Bridgeport Friday. It marks the third straight season the Lions have claimed at least one victory over the Purple Knights.
GAME ONE: BRIDGEPORT 10, LINCOLN 1
Bridgeport scored seven of its 10 runs over the last two at-bats, all against the LU bullpen, to secure the game one victory.
Freshman pitcher
Liam Palmer (Ford Island, Hawaii/Grassfield (Va.)), 0-3, kept the Lions close during his 5 1/3 innings of work. He surrendered just one earned run – three total – on six hits with three strikeouts and three walks. Sophomore pitcher
Leon McKnight (Philadelphia Pa./Sankofa Freedom Academy Charter) came on in relief with a runner on third base and one out, to keep Lincoln's deficit at 3-0.
Lincoln scored its only run in the top of the seventh inning as senior
CarVonte Williams (Cleveland, Ohio/Twinsburg) opened the inning with a double and scored on a two-out single by sophomore
Jefry Azcona (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic).
GAME TWO: LINCOLN 5, LINCOLN 2
Freshman
Wesley Hogan (Washington, D.C./Maret) smoked a one-out, three-run home run in the fifth inning to give Lincoln the lead, and freshman
Gabriel Sanchez (Anthony, N.M/Anthony) made it stand-up with a sensational complete-game outing.
The game-changing inning started with a single by Azcona and freshman
Miguel Agramonte (Fallston, Md./Fallston) reached on a fielder's choice. Junior
Alex Jones (Bear Del./Appoquinimink) moved them both into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. However, it was ultimately not needed as Hogan drove a ball over the left-field fence.
Bridgeport took the lead with a pair of runs, one of which was unearned, in the second inning. Back-to-back singles with a walk had the bases loaded with Purple Knights. A slow roller up the third-base line for a hit and throwing errors brought home both BC tallies. However, Sanchez limited the damage with a strikeout and a pair of groundouts.
Freshman
Sebastian Iguaran (Port Orange, Fla./Spruce Creek) brought home Lincoln's first run the hard way, getting hit with bases loaded. But a double-play ball cut a potential rally short.
Lincoln took the lead on the aforementioned homer and then added an insurance run in the sixth on a two-out double by Azcona, scoring Williams – who opened the inning with a single.
Sanchez, 3-5, hurled his second complete game of the season, allowing two runs – one earned, on just four hits over seven innings. He finished with five strikeouts and three walks.
Lincoln looks to claim the three-game series with a nine-inning game noon Saturday.
