Box Score  

Forest City, N.C.----Wingate University senior right-hander Olen Little (Charlotte, N.C.) piled up a career-high 11 strikeouts Friday night, leading the second-seeded Bulldogs to a 6-2 victory over number three seed Lincoln Memorial on day two of the 2014 Food Lion SAC Tournament at McNair Field. Wingate improves to 30-14 overall, while the Railsplitters fall to 27-16-1.

Wingate is the only team without a loss in the SAC Tournament. The Bulldogs are back in action Saturday night, taking on the winner of Saturday afternoon's Catawba vs. LMU game. Wingate will play at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Senior outfielder Eric Serra (Miami, Fla.) was one-for-three with a double, two RBI and a run scored to lead the Wingate offense. Junior outfielder Thomas Spitz (West Chester, Pa.) added two hits, an RBI and a run scored, while juniors Josh Clark (Clemmons, N.C.) and Brad Cherry (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) each drove in runs for the Bulldogs. Senior outfielder Justin Somers (Wilmington, N.C.) scored twice for Wingate.

Kelvin Brito was two-for-four with an RBI to lead the LMU attack, while Scott Miller also had two hits and an RBI for LMU. Jean Rodriguez was one-for-three with a run scored.

An error and a walk in the third put runners on first and second with Wingate, while Serra's sacrifice moved them to second and third with one out. Spitz put the 'Dogs on the board with an RBI groundout.

LMU had the answer, tying the game in the top of the fourth on an RBI double from Brito. Miller put the Railsplitters on top with an RBI single in the fifth.

The Bulldogs had the immediate response, scoring three times in the bottom of the frame to regain the lead. Billings started the rally with a single to right center, while Somers was hit by a pitch. They both scored on Serra's RBI double to left center to give Wingate the lead. Serra would score on a double play to make it 4-2.

Wingate added two more runs in the seventh to push the lead to six. A single and hit batsman put runners on first and second with two outs. Clark ripped an RBI single to right center, while Cherry followed with an RBI single through the left side to make it 6-2.

That would be plenty for Little. The two-time first team All-SAC selection allowed a leadoff single in the first, but induced a double play to kill the rally. He then struck out the side in the second, while adding two more strikeouts in the third. After LMU scored in the fifth, Little retired the next 10 hitters, including four strikeouts, striking out the side again in the sixth. An infield single started the ninth, but a popout, flyout and groundout ended the contest.

Little moves to 10-1 on the year. He allowed two runs on seven hits while striking out 11 and not walking a batter. Little threw 145 pitches Friday night. The All-Region selection from last year is now 16-2 over his last two seasons with a 1.87 ERA. Zac Butler took the loss, falling to 4-5. He allowed six runs on nine hits in seven innings of work, striking out four and walking one.