COLUMBIA, Ky. - Strong hitting in game one and strong pitching in game two led the Lindsey Wilson baseball team to a Mid-South Conference doubleheader sweep over No. 25 Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) on Sunday afternoon at Egnew Park. With the pair of wins, LWC jumps up to 17-17 on the year with an 11-9 mark in the MSC. FHU drops to 17-18 overall with a 10-5 record in the conference.

Game one: Lindsey Wilson - 13 | Freed-Hardeman - 9

The Blue Raiders produced 17 hits on offense to help secure the win in game one. Austin Rayno corralled a team-high four hits alongside two RBIs while Kelvin Llanos was close behind with his three hits and two RBIs. Ty Menrath, Seth Price, Nico Martinez, and Henry Paulino all picked up a pair of hits apiece while Lucas Bault and Derek Zavala each added one hit, respectively.

From the bump, Andy Rosales picked up the start, pitching 4-1/3 innings where he notched seven earned runs, two walks, and four strikeouts. Jake McDaniel picked up the win, going 3-2/3 innings of work recording three walks, two earned runs, and three K's. Kyle Collin grabbed a save, pitching a full inning while recording a lone punch out.

Three runs in the first inning helped propel Lindsey Wilson forward early in the contest. Zavala brought the first run to the plate on an RBI single followed by a Martinez sacrifice fly to right-center field a few batters later, scoring another. Llanos sent out an RBI single of his own in the inning to cap off the strong start.

The Lions answered with a run in the second inning, but the team was quickly overwhelmed by a huge four-run inning from the Blue Raiders in the third. LWC scored two of those runs off of fielding errors from FHU, while the other two crossed off a Martinez RBI double and a Bault RBI single.

Despite an uncomfortable deficit, Freed-Hardeman fired back with a strong five runs in the fourth inning, trailing now by just one. However, this shift in momentum did not last long as Lindsey Wilson brought three more across in the bottom half of the inning to garner some insurance runs. The scoring came from Price producing an RBI double and Paulino crushing a two-run home run.

FHU added a run to the scoreboard an inning later, but it was quickly countered by a run from LWC. The run crossed from an RBI single to shallow center field from Rayno.

Two quiet innings proved to hurt the Lions tremendously, as the Blue Raiders executed with lone runs in the sixth and seventh innings to extend the lead. Llanos produced the run in the sixth off a solo home run over the center field wall, while Rayno notched the run in the seventh off a solo home run of his own.

Refusing to give up, Freed-Hardeman pushed forward lone runs in the eighth and ninth innings but could not make up the deficit.

Game two: Lindsey Wilson - 2 | Freed-Hardeman - 1

Cohen Achen was terrific from the mound in game two, helping Lindsey Wilson lock up the doubleheader sweep in the low-scoring affair.

Achen went a complete seven innings of work, allowing just three hits, one walk, and one earned run while corralling eight strikeouts to match his season-high. With the win, Achen now improves his pitching record to 4-0 on the season.

From the plate, the Blue Raiders produced five hits. Tyler Maskill led the way with two hits while Price, Martinez, and Paulino all had one apiece.

The contest was a scoreless stalemate until the bottom half of the fourth inning, which saw LWC jump in front. Paulino produced a sacrifice fly to score Martinez from third base.

The Lions answered the call an inning later with a solo home run on a full count. However, Price came up big and delivered the eventual game-winning RBI single to shallow left field in the bottom half of the inning. Achen continued to keep FHU off the board in the eventual win.

The final game of the series between Lindsey Wilson and Freed-Hardeman is set for tomorrow beginning at noon CT at Egnew Park.