JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The Lincoln baseball team won its first game of the season on Saturday (Feb. 8), beating William Woods on a walk-off single by Jayden Little, 3-2. It was the first victory for the Blue Tigers in baseball's first season back on campus since the program was discontinued following the 2016 season. The win came in the second game of a double-header, with William Woods taking the first contest, 11-4.

After stranding a WWU runner on second in the top of the final inning of a planned seven-frame contest, the Blue Tigers opened the bottom half of the seventh with a base hit by Chase Morris. Miguel Padron was hit by a pitch, then Andy Sreboski IV laid down a perfect bunt that allowed him to reach safely and the other two runners to advance, loading the bases. That brought up Little, who launched the ball into the far corner of right field, allowing Morris to come home for the game-winning score.

Lincoln (1-5) led for most of the contest, as Isaiah Figueroa scored the first run of the nightcap on a fielding error. Figueroa had previously got on board via a single, then took third when Easton Stuckenschneider drove a liner through the middle. The Blue Tigers added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth, as Brody Johns, Stuckenschneider and Ty Ollison his consecutive singles. Johns then scored on a sacrifice fly by Morris.

William Woods (4-2) rallied in the top of the sixth, as the leadoff batter hit a homerun, which was followed by a base hit and a pair of walks to load the bases with no outs. The next Owl batter hit into a double play, but a run still scored to tie the game at 2-2. LU was able to force a fly out to keep the score deadlocked, setting up the winning run by Morris in the bottom of the seventh.

The Blue Tigers out-hit the Owls, 12-6, with Padron, Sreboski, Johns and Stuckenschneider each finishing with two hits apiece. Canon Feist pitched the first five innings and notched a strikeout while Jacob Claborn closed the game and earned the win. Little paced the defense with eight putouts while Figueroa, who led LU with four assists, and Sreboski tallied three putouts apiece.

Lincoln also scored first in the opener, as Padron led the bottom of the first off with a double, took second a sacrifice bunt laid down by Sreboski and then scored on a single into centerfield by Little. William Woods responded with a huge second inning, however, plating six runs on four hits and two errors to take a lead it would never relinquish. The Owls finished with 11 hits in Saturday's first game while the Blue Tigers finished with seven.

In the bottom of the fourth, LU was able to cut its deficit in half, beginning with back-to-back doubles by Jacob Schulte and Figueroa. A ground out by Johns advanced Figueroa to third, and he later scored on a wild pitch to pull the Blue Tigers to within 6-3. An RBI double in the top of the fifth pushed the WWU advantage back up to four, but Jared Fulghem's RBI single in the bottom of the sixth brought in Figueroa to make it a three-run game. William Woods answered with four runs on four hits in the seventh, however, to seal the victory.

Jacob Zahner struck out eight WWU batters while Carter Otto fanned one, and Padron tallied three hits, all of which were doubles. Fulghem and Little each recorded eight putouts and Schulte provided five, including one on an outstanding dive to nab a foul ball just in front of the Blue Tiger dugout. Fulghem additionally provided two assists.

Lincoln will close out its four-game series against William Woods on Sunday (Feb. 9) when the teams meet at Vivion Field at 12:00 p.m. CST.