LINCOLN, PA – The Winston-Salem State had the long ball working all weekend, as the Rams swept the final regular season series from the Lincoln Lions, 30-2, 17-6, 2-0 and 12-0, to earn the CIAA Regular Season Crown.
With the wins WSSU improves to 27-19 overall and 13-3 in the CIAA. The Lincoln falls to 5-31 overall and 1-15 in the CIAA.
WSSU wrapped up the regular season crown, and will enter the 2016 CIAA Baseball Championships as the #1 seed, when the tournament kicks off on April 28-30, at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, NC.
Devin McLemore had the best outing of the WSSU pitching staff, pitching a complete game in WSSU's 12-0 win on Sunday, scattering seven hits, striking out a career high 13 batters. Nathan Steger pitched 6.0 innings in the Rams 30-2 shellacking of Lincoln, allowing four hits, while striking out four. Orlando Cannon struck out seven in four innings in the Rams 2-0 win, and Kanoa Hironaka struck out seven in two appearances, while Justin Norton had six strikeouts in WSSU's 17-6 win.
The WSSU Rams had several outstanding offensive performances over the weekend, led by Michael McNamara, who hit .769, going 10 for 13 with nine runs scored, three doubles five home runs and 15 runs batted in. McNamara was also walked six times. Nathan Steger went 8 for 14 for the weekend, with six runs scored and four doubles and three runs batted in, and Emilio Abreu went 9 for 17 with seven runs scored, three doubles, one triple, one home run and eight runs batted in. Randy Norris continues to swing a hot bat, going 8 for 16 with 10 runs scored, one double, one home run and nine runs batted in. Willie McRae went 6 for 13 with two runs scored, one double, one triple and three rbi's, while Jason Baytop went 6 for 14 with eight runs scored, two doubles and three rbi's. Landon Steiner went 4 for 10 with five runs scored, one double and four runs batted in. Ivan Acuna went 3 for 13 with six runs scored, two doubles and a run batted in. Rashad Webster went 3 for 4 with a run scored and a home run; Phillip Page went 1 for 4 with a run scored and a triple; Brandon Fowler went 1 for 4 with three runs scored, two runs batted in and a home run; and Connor Bodenhamer went 1 for 5 with a run scored.
Winston-Salem State will now await the official release of pairings for the 2016 CIAA Baseball Championships , to be held April 28-30, at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, NC.
