Box Score NEWBERRY, S.C. - Newberry College pitcher Josh McElwee struck out 10 batters, but Josh Strawn - his counterpart from Lincoln Memorial - allowed only three hits and struck out nine as the visiting Railsplitters earned a 6-0 victory in South Atlantic Conference play at the Smith Road Complex on Friday night.
Newberry (16-20 overall, 9-10 SAC) and Lincoln Memorial (31-17, 8-12 SAC) will wrap up South Atlantic Conference play with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. tomorrow.
McElwee (5-2 record; Andrews, S.C.) allowed only one baserunner in the opening three innings and the offense stranded runners on second base in the first two innings after hits from Thomas Berryhill (Aynor, S.C.) and John Kirkland (Orlando, Fla.).
LMU scored its first runs in the top of the fourth. Ralph Rosas (Bayamon, Puerto Rico) drew an 11-pitch walk with one out and was driven home on a two-run homerun to right field from Jason Pabon (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico).
Strawn (7-3 record; Bradenton, Fla.) was dominant in the middle innings of the game to make that lead stand. After Newberry had runners in scoring position in the first two frames, Strawn faced the minimum amount of batters in the next 5-2/3 innings before Tyler Hartman (Orlando, Fla.) beat out an infield single with two outs in the eighth. At one point, Strawn struck out five consecutive Newberry batters.
The Railsplitters benefitted from a two-out RBI single from Shane Kaufman (Miramar, Fla.) in the sixth to make it a 3-0 game before LMU doubled the lead in the seventh to distance the lead. Cody Pack (Andersonville, Tenn.) drove in two runs with a double and later scored on a two-out RBI single from Eric Kitts (Blaine, Tenn.) to make it 6-0, with all runs charged to McElwee.
McElwee went 6-1/3 innings, allowing six earned runs on seven hits while striking out 10. Strawn struck out nine, allowed three hits and walked three to pick up his sixth complete game and third shutout of the season.
Lincoln Memorial 6, Newberry 0
(Apr 17, 2009 at Newberry, S.C.)
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Lincoln Memorial.... 000 201 300 - 6 9 1 (31-17, 8-12 SAC)
Newberry............ 000 000 000 - 0 3 1 (16-20, 9-10 SAC)
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Pitchers: Lincoln Memorial - Josh Strawn and Jason Pabon. Newberry - Josh McElwee; Gary Hersey(7) and Jose Rosa; C.J. Tyrkala.
Win-Josh Strawn(7-3) Loss-Josh McElwee(5-2) T-2:49 A-287
HR LMU - Jason Pabon (3).
Weather: 67f, clear, 7mph ESE wind
FULL BOX SCORE