HICKORY, N.C. --- Lenoir-Rhyne's Sal Carricato went 4-for-4 with three RBI including a home run to lead the 11th-ranked Bears to an 8-2 South Atlantic Conference win over Tusculum Friday night at Durham Field.
Lenoir-Rhyne (34-9, 18-7 SAC) got a solid pitching performance from starter Andrew Harlow (8-0) as he remains undefeated on the season. Harlow, along with Randan Rigdon and Michael Ribis blanked the Pioneers (17-26, 10-15 SAC) for the final five innings.
Carricato recorded a two-out RBI single in the first inning to put the Bears ahead 1-0. In the second, Michael Logan led off with a homer to make it a 2-0 contest.
In the top of the third, TU's Caleb Webster led off with his 16th double of the season. He would later score on Ben Scartz's RBI triple as the Pioneers trailed 2-1.
LR plated two runs in the third thanks to Carricato's two-run blast to left field. Tusculum got a run back in the fourth when Ty Smith led off with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch and later scored on Jude Morton's RBI groundout.
The Bears added a run in the fifth, two in the seventh and one more in the eighth to move to an 8-2 advantage.
Harlow finished the game going six innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, two walks and four strikeouts. TU starter Luke Absher was tagged with the loss as he went five innings, allowed five runs, four earned, on five hits, five walks and four strikeouts.
Scartz finished the game going 2-for-3, while Smith also had a two-hit outing.
Tusculum third-baseman Max Schmarder recorded a walk in his first plate appearance to extend his on-base streak to 36 consecutive games.
The two teams will wrap up the weekend series with Saturday's 1 p.m. doubleheader.
