LMU's Cody Baker (right) scores the winning run in the ninth inning.
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HARROGATE, Tenn. – Garrett Copeland's single to right field drove in pinch runner Cody Baker in the bottom of the ninth inning and gave Lincoln Memorial a 7-6 win over Northern Kentucky University on Wednesday.
With one out, John Couch reached base on an error and advanced to second on the wild throw. Baker was inserted as a pinch runner, and he scored the winning run when Copeland bounced a single through the right side off NKU reliever
Kevin Jordan.
Lincoln Memorial (14-8) rallied from a 6-3 deficit in the eighth inning to tie the score at 6-all on a two-run homer by Gelson Perez. Earlier in the eighth, Nick Langley connected for a solo home run.
Shannon McCormick and
Larry Pempek provided the offensive spark for NKU. McCormick finished 2-for-4 with a home run and three runs batted in, while Pempek added a homer and drove in two runs. The Norse (6-4) built a 6-1 lead in the fifth inning, but Lincoln Memorial rallied late and pulled out the win.
Pempek gave NKU a 2-0 advantage in the second inning by blasting a two-run homer over the wall in right-center field. McCormick extended NKU's lead to 3-0 in the fourth inning by hitting a solo homer to left-center field.
McCormick now has a team-leading four home runs this season.
After Lincoln Memorial answered with a run in the bottom of the fourth, NKU scored three times in the top of the fifth inning to take a 6-1 lead. McCormick's two-run double down the left-field line highlighted the Norse's fifth-inning outburst.
NKU left fielder
Jason Cisper went 3-for-5 and extended his hitting streak to 34 consecutive games during the past two seasons. Cisper ended the 2009 campaign with a 24-game hitting streak, and he has hit safely in each contest this season.
Bryan Rose scored twice for NKU, which collected 12 hits as a team.
NKU plays host to UC-Clermont in a single game Thursday at 2 p.m. The Norse begin Great Lakes Valley Conference play Saturday with a road doubleheader at Rockhurst.
NKU concludes the road trip Sunday with another GLVC doubleheader at Quincy.
