HARROGATE, Tenn. - A new era of baseball began on Monday afternoon for the Lincoln Memorial University Railsplitters. Since the early 90's Lincoln Memorial was a member of the Gulf South Conference but last July the University officially became a member of the South Atlantic Conference.

This Saturday the Railsplitters were supposed to open the conference schedule against Tusculum College but inclement weather forced a postponement of the league opener until Monday and shorted the series to only two games.

The Railsplitters seemed almost dominating until the late innings of Monday's first game. LMU jumped on the #15 ranked Pioneers 2-0 in the bottom of the first inning and tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the fourth for a 4-0 lead. In the top of the fourth inning, the Pioneers cut it to a one run game on a Railsplitter fielding error and an RBI single. LMU answered again in the sixth inning with two more runs and despite a late charge by the Pioneers in the top of the seventh, came away with the 6-5 win.

For LMU Dustin Rowland (Eagle River, Ark.) and Bryon Izzo (Miramar, Fla.) were both two for three at the plate each with an RBI while Derek Treece (Powell, Tenn.) and Tommy Casto (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) were two for four with Treece knocking two runs in. Mike Richardson (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) was responsible for LMU's only other RBI.

On the mound, senior Joe Workman (Dayton, Ky.) picked up the win and improved his record to 3-0 on the year. Workman pitched six innings, giving up seven hits, five runs and two earned runs while walking four batters and striking out two. Senior reliever Reed Neff (Brentwood, Tenn.) came in and pitched the seventh picking up the save by allowing no damage and walking one batter.

Tusculum was Maikol Gonzalez who was two for four at the plate with two runs batted in. Teammate Ricky Feliz was also two for four in game one. Pioneer pitcher Raymond Ruggles took the loss, falling to 2-1 on the year. Ruggles pitched four innings giving up nine hits, six runs and four earned runs while walking one batter and striking out three. Mat Galens threw the final two innings for Tusculum, allowing three Railsplitters hits, with one walk and two strikeouts.

The nightcap was almost a polar opposite of the first game. In game-two it was Tusculum that seemed to knock the cover off the ball but LMU maintained the lead. The Railsplitters took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and stood strong until the top of the fifth with the Pioneers tied things up on a Railsplitter fielding error.

LMU put the game away in the bottom of the sixth inning when Derek Treece went out of the yard over the left centerfield fence for a two run homerun, his fifth of the year to give the Railsplitters a 3-1 lead. The Pioneers got one of those runs back in the top of the seventh when Ricky Feliz hit a bomb over the right field fence to pull Tusculum to within one, but the comeback fell short and the Railsplitters won 3-2.

Railsplitter pitcher Zach Gray (Columbia, Tenn.) went the distance to improve to 2-1 on the year. Gray gave up ten hits, two runs and one earned run while walking two batters and striking out seven. C.J. Hillyer got the loss for Tusculum, falling to 2-1 on the year. Hillyer pitched 5.2 innings giving up five hits, three runs and three earned runs while walking two batters and striking out eight. Teammate Carlos Ortiz pitched the final third of an inning of the game for the Pioneers with no further damage.

Now 7-2 on the year, the Railsplitters will have a single nine inning game with King College on Tuesday in Bristol, Tennessee and then play Virginia Intermont College on Wednesday in Bristol, Virginia a double-header that consists of two seven inning games. Tuesday's first pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.