HARROGATE, Tenn. – Roosevelt dropped a pair of games to Lincoln Memorial on Friday after the Railsplitters scored late in both contests to open up a four-game non-conference series between the teams in Harrogate, Tenn.

An eighth-inning triple was the difference in the first game with Lincoln Memorial edging past the Lakers 3-1. The Railsplitters hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning of the second game to break the tie in an eventual 6-4 win over Roosevelt (5-11).

LINCOLN MEMORIAL 3, ROOSEVELT 1
The Lakers had chances in each of the first three innings to open the scoring, but it was Lincoln Memorial to start the proceedings with a solo homer in the third. Andrew Lucas hit a leadoff single in the fifth inning and made it to third when James Berry reached courtesy of an error. Kekoa Ogawa hit the single that drove in Lucas to tie the game and brought Berry to third base. Berry tried to score on a long fly ball from Jack Kieffer, but was tagged out at home plate to end the inning.

Omar Abuelhija worked his way out of the few jams he found himself in during his seven-plus innings on the mound. A first-inning double was erased on a line-drive double play and in the seventh inning, the senior righty struck out a batter with runners on second and third before inducing an inning-ending pop fly. After walking the first batter in the eighth inning, Abuelhija was taken out after allowing just five hits and striking out five.

Roosevelt nearly escaped the inning unscathed when Kevin Schroer got the next two hitters to fly out and ground out, respectively. But a two-out triple scored both runs to put the Lakers in trouble entering the final inning.

Jojo Mack's leadoff single was followed by a Sebastian Casillas walk to put the tying run on base. A passed ball put both runners in scoring position, but that was as close as they would come to crossing home plate in the ninth. Ogawa finished with two of Roosevelt's seven hits as Abuelhija took the unlucky loss.

LINCOLN MEMORIAL 6, ROOSEVELT 4
Momentum swung in a hurry in the second game of the day and Roosevelt nearly pulled off its two-out rally in the seventh inning. It was another tight game as both pitchers were making their mark and not yielding much to the opposition.

The Lakers struck first this time with an Ogawa single in the third inning that scored Mack for an unearned run. Mack had reached on a walk but then moved up to second on a passed ball before tagging up on a flyout. Another unearned run in the fourth inning gave Roosevelt a 2-0 lead when Quinn O'Bryan reached on an error that allowed Kieffer to score after he led off the frame with a walk. The Lakers would eventually load the bases in the inning, but could not scratch across another run.

Lincoln Memorial put its first pressure on starter Keagan Bobbitt in the fifth inning with back-to-back walks to start the frame. Bobbitt induced a groundout to settle for runners on the corners before a wild pitch allowed the first run to score. A double scored the second run and the Railsplitters added a third in the fifth just before a runner tried to go from first to third on centerfielder Harrison Kowlaski, who hosed him down with the throw to third.

Roosevelt manufactured the tying run in the sixth inning with Christian Degroot walking to lead off then being replaced by Kyle Jannenga as a pinch runner. Luke Ulbert laid down a sacrifice to move Jannenga up 90 feet and the pinch runner took third on a passed ball. When Casillas hit a foul ball that took the left fielder away from the plate, Jannenga tagged up on the out to tie the game.

The Railsplitters, though, put the first two runners on base in the sixth and the third batter hit a home run to blow the game open. Berry kept hope alive in the top of the seventh with a two-out single and Ogawa followed with a walk to bring Kieffer to the plate as the tying run. The first baseman hit a single into center field to score Berry and move Ogawa to second, but the rally ended there.

UP NEXT: The two teams continue the four-game set Saturday at noon in Tennessee.