Baseball Clinches Series Victory over (RV) Olivet Nazarene

COLUMBIA, Ky. – The Lindsey Wilson baseball team split a doubleheader with (RV) Olivet Nazarene on Friday to claim a 3-1 series victory over the Tigers at Egnew Park.

After falling in game one, the Blue Raiders pulled off a gritty 6-5 win over the Tigers behind the arm of Jonathan Phipps and bat of Henry Paulino. With the split, the Blue Raiders improve to 5-2 on the season.

GAME ONE | Lindsey Wilson 8, Olivet Nazarene 16

The Blue Raiders came into game one fresh off a sweep of the Tigers on Thursday which included a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to end the Thursday twin bill. Olivet Nazarene came prepared on day two and bounced back with an offensive explosion in game one, totaling 16 runs on 17 hits.

The Blue Raiders struck first as lead-off hitter Sam Gage opened the game with a walk and eventually scored on a passed ball. 

Olivet Nazarene immediately responded in the second inning plating two. 

After going scoreless in the second inning, Chance Stayton hit a two-out single and Jordan Blick followed that up with a deep shot over the wall to put the Blue Raiders back in front 3-2. 

The Tigers once again responded, this time hanging seven runs on the board in the top of the fourth inning.

Lindsey Wilson looked to build some momentum in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Henry Paulino and Austin Rayno earned back-to-back walks to start the inning. An RBI-single by Gabe Board and a sac-fly by Michael Sizemore would score Paulino and Rayno and cut the deficit to four.

The Tigers put together another big inning in the fifth, plating five runs to extend the lead to 14-5. A pair of walks once again started the inning for the Blue Raiders in the sixth and this time Paulino hit a 3-run home run to score himself, Blick and Lucas Bault. 

The Tigers added two more runs in the top of the seventh, and the Blue Raiders could not respond, sealing the 16-8 defeat in the first game of the day.

On the mound, three Lindsey Wilson pitchers earned a strikeout against the Tigers.

GAME TWO | Lindsey Wilson 6, Olivet Nazarene 5

After suffering a tough defeat, Lindsey Wilson looked to bounce back quickly as the series could still be clinched with a win in game two.

The Blue Raiders pulled out a close one, as a five-run fifth inning and a solid complete game by Phipps proved to be the difference.

The Tigers were the first to score in game two on as a costly error plated two runs for Olivet Nazarene in the top of the third inning.

The Blue Raiders finally scored their first run in the fourth inning as Bault earned an RBI groundout to score Blick who reached on a walk.

A 2-run homerun extended the Tigers lead to 4-1 in the top of the fifth inning, but the Blue Raiders would do some damage of their own in the bottom half of the frame. Matthew Schultz reached on a passed ball and Cody Fallon and Gage earned singles to load the bases with no outs.

After a fielder's choice, Blick reached on an error in the next at-bat and Fallon came in to score. Paulino followed that up with a 3-run RBI double to center field, scoring Blick, Stayton, and Gage. Paulino advanced to third on the throw and later came in to score courtesy of a Bault RBI single.

A run would score in the top of the sixth for the Tigers to cut the deficit to one, but Phipps would hold strong on the mound to secure his second win of the season. Phipps finished the day with nine strikeouts and five hits allowed. Only two of the five runs scored by Olivet Nazarene were earned.

Lindsey Wilson returns to the diamond next week as the Blue Raiders host Indiana Wesleyan University at Egnew Park in a three-game series starting on Feb. 16. First pitch on Thursday is set for 3:00 p.m. CT.