Lincoln Railsplitters sweep Athens in baseball doubleheader

[April 19, 2021]  The Lincoln Railsplitters Baseball Team improved to 5-0 on the season with a sweep of the Athens Warriors in a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon.

Game one

Lincoln 5
Athens 2

Sean Raffa started game one for Lincoln on Saturday and earned the win as the Railsplitters defeated Athens 5-2.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning when walks came back to haunt the Warriors. Trey Schilling, Devyn Snow and Dylan Singleton all drew walks in the inning to load the bases for Trent Koehler. Koehler’s single to centerfield drove in Schilling and Snow to get the Railsplitters on the board with a 2-0 lead. Keagan Ferguson added an RBI single in the inning to make the score 3-0.

Athens would score two runs in the top of the sixth inning to make the score 3-2.

In the bottom of the sixth inning Lincoln got those runs back. Raffa reached base on an error to start the inning. Seth Tungate reached base on a walk. Andrew Graue belted a line drive to centerfield to score Raffa and Tungate and give Lincoln a 5-2 lead.

With Devyn Snow on the mound in the top of the seventh inning, he was dealing, recording a walk and three strikeouts. Game over.

Lincoln wins by a final score of 5-2 and Sean Raffa (1-0) gets the win. Raffa struck out eight batters over five innings of work. He walked two and allowed two earned runs on four hits. Raffa was relieved by Devyn Snow, who allowed one hit, one walk and struck out four batters in two innings of work.

The Railsplitters had six hits in the game. Trent Koehler led the offense with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate. Koehler drove in two runs and scored one run. Andrew Graue was 1-for-3 with two RBIs. His insurance runs in the sixth inning gave the Railsplitters a little breathing room heading into the final inning against Athens. Dylan Singleton, Keagan Ferguson and Trey Schilling also added hits for Lincoln.

Game two

Lincoln 9
Athens 0

The Railsplitters shut out Athens 9-0 in game two behind great pitching from five different guys. Tanner Strampp started the game for Lincoln. Jaden Klopp, Daulton Miller, Aiden Nemeth and Sam Gleason each pitched an inning in relief for Lincoln.

The Railsplitters pitching staff combined to strike out nine Warriors and allowed just three hits in the game.

Lincoln’s offense was ignited in the first inning when Keagan Ferguson doubled. He would take third on an error and score on a passed ball. A 1-0 lead was the result after one inning of play.

In the second inning, the Railsplitters offense really caught fire. After a walk to Alex Hoffert to start the inning, Seth Tungate followed with a single. Jake Baker bunted the runners over to second and third. Trey Schilling then doubled to left to score both Hoffert and Tungate to make the score 3-0. Trent Butterfield reached base on a hit by pitch. Dylan Singleton crushed a double to score Schilling to pad the lead, 4-0 in favor of Lincoln. A walk to Trent Koehler loaded the bases for the Railsplitters. With two outs, Tanner Strampp singled to centerfield and two more runs came racing home. Butterfield and Singleton scored to make the score 6-0. Koehler would eventually score on an error by the third baseman and Lincoln was up 7-0 after two innings of play.

In the bottom of the fourth inning Lincoln added another run. Koehler doubled and advanced to third on a grounder by Scotty Battin. Koehler would come around to score on a groundout by Jaden Klopp. Lincoln’s lead was now 8-0.
 

In the bottom of the fifth inning one more run was put on the board by the Railsplitters when Singleton added an RBI single.

The final score was 9-0 with Lincoln sweeping Athens and improving to 5-0 on the season.

The Railsplitters had eight hits versus Athens.
Dylan Singleton was 2-for-4 at the plate for the Railsplitters. He had two RBIs and one run scored. Trey Schilling was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored. Trent Koehler, Keagan Ferguson, Tanner Strampp and Seth Tungate also recorded hits for Lincoln.

Tanner Strampp (1-0) was the winning pitcher for Lincoln. He worked three innings and struck out four batters. The Railsplitters bullpen also shut down the Warriors, striking out five batters along the way.

Next up on the schedule, Lincoln will play a doubleheader at Hillsboro beginning at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 24, 2021.


[Teena Lowery]