JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Nick Lovell brought in Kaleb Davis from second base on a two-out single, and the Lincoln baseball team defeated Truman State, 12-11, in 10 innings on Sunday (Feb. 21). The win came in the second game of a double-header, with Truman State taking the first contest, 8-4.

The Blue Tigers led for nearly the entirety of the second game, as Lincoln scored five runs in the bottom of the first and held onto the lead all the way into the ninth inning. LU entered that frame with an 11-7 lead, and was one strike away from that being the final score. A two-out RBI single started the rally for Truman State, however, and the Bulldogs ended up tying the game with four runs on two hits.

After Lincoln went down in order in the bottom of the ninth, Truman State threatened to take its first lead of the contest since the first inning in the top of the 10th. The Bulldogs got a lead-off single, then a sacrifice bunt and a groundout advanced the runner to third. Trevor Schnieders, who came in to get the final out of the ninth and ended up with the win, forced the next batter to hit a grounder towards the shortstop. Lovell came up with the ball and made a great throw to Davis at first, just beating the runner to keep the score knotted at 11.

Following a lead-off strikeout, Davis got the offense back up and going with a base hit in the bottom of the 10th. Davis then stole second base after a pop-out, bringing Lovell up to the plate. Lovell found a gap in left centerfield and hit a line drive that traveled far enough for Davis to round third and head home for Lincoln's first win of 2016.

Truman State took an early 1-0 lead on a Blue Tiger error in the top of the first, but Lincoln responded with five scores in the bottom half of the frame, including two on a base hit from Kolton Clark. Jameson Mahan also had an RBI in the inning, bringing in Zach Anderson on a fielder's choice.

The Bulldogs got a run back in the second, but Lincoln increased its lead to 6-2 on an RBI single by Laban Petzoldt in the third. Truman answered with another unearned run in the fourth, but an RBI base hit by Mason Price followed by a two-run homer from Jackson Walker made it a 9-3 contest in Lincoln's favor.

The Blue Tigers went on to make it an 11-3 affair in the bottom of the fifth, as Clark scored on a Lovell single before a double from Schnieders plated Petzoldt. Truman State mounted a mini-comeback in the top of the sixth, scoring four runs on four hits, and almost brought in another run in the seventh. The Bulldogs hit a one-out triple in that latter frame, but good pitching by Zach Moore, as well as a good throw from Walker to catch a player stealing, kept TSU off the board.

Lincoln had 12 hits in the night cap, including two each by Lovell, Walker and Petzoldt. Walker also scored three runs while Price and Clark each scored twice. Mike Million and Jeffery Jackson joined Davis, Schnieders, Clark and Price as the other Blue Tigers with a hit.

Riley Crews pitched the first five innings of the contest and gave up just three earned runs while striking out one. Moore, who nearly picked up a save with 3.1 innings of work, also had a strikeout. Caleb Thomas and Kyler Lundgrin additionally saw time on the mound.

Anderson led Lincoln's defense with 10 putouts, while Davis had five and Million recorded four. Mahan finished with six assists, Lovell added five and Walker recorded two.

In the first game, the Blue Tigers had just three hits, with Dillon Walker tallying LU's lone RBI on a base hit that scored Schnieders in the bottom of the first. By that point, Lincoln was already at a deficit, as Truman State scored six runs, only three of which were earned, in the top of the frame. The Blue Tigers ended up committing three errors in the contest while Truman State made just one and racked up six hits.

A pair of solo homeruns in the fifth inning made it an 8-1 lead for TSU, but Lincoln was able to take advantage of some pitching miscues to get back in the ballgame in the sixth. A pair of walks, as well as Dillon Walker getting hit by a pitch, allowed LU to load the bases. Three wild pitches then brought those runners home, with Schnieders, Dillon Walker and Daniel Castillo all scoring. That cut the Truman State lead in half, but the Blue Tigers weren't able to complete the rally in what was a seven-inning contest.

Clark pitched 6.1 innings and fanned five Bulldog batters. Dylan Wood closed the contest and allowed no hits or runs. Alex Ludwick had two of Lincoln's three hits, with the other belonging to Price. Defensively, Davis and Ludwick tied for the team-high with six putouts apiece, with Ludwick also tallying a team-high four assists.

Lincoln improved to 1-7 on the season with its win while Truman State is now 1-3.

The Blue Tigers will be back at LU Baseball Field next weekend to open MIAA play with a three-game series against Nebraska-Kearney. Lincoln will host the Lopers on Friday (Feb. 26) and Saturday (Feb. 27) at 1:00 p.m. CST on both days before closing the series on Sunday (Feb. 28) with a 12:00 p.m. CST contest.