PENSACOLA, Fla. (March 16, 2022) - A rainout on Tuesday spoiled the first day of the annual spring break trip for the Rhodes Lynx, forcing them to play twice on Wednesday. In the first game, head coach Jeff Cleanthes recorded his 500th career win in a 10-9 extra-inning thriller against Wisconsin-Platteville. In th nightcap, the Lynx fell to Wisconsin-Whitewater by a score fo 5-0. Rhodes now stands at 9-9-1 on the season. 

Game One
Rhodes 10
Wisconsin Platteville 9
10 innings

An error and a sac fly put three runs on the board in the top of the first for Platteville. In response, Rhodes got one back in the bottom half on a John McNair sac fly that plated Quinn Blackman. The Pioneers added two more in the third to make it a 5-1 ballgame. The lead would balloon all the way to 7-1 after six offensive innings for Plattevile, but Rhodes wasn't ready to go down without a fight. 

In the bottom of the sixth, Quinn Blackman drew a bases loaded walk with one out to bring in Ben Wilson. After a second out, a wild pitch brought in the second run of the inning. Wood Kimbrough kept the rally going with a double to center that scored Blackman and Peter York. After a pitching change, Will Heurtin followed suit with a double of his own to plate Kimbrough and make it a 7-6 ballgame. The Lynx would then tie things up in the seventh on a York RBI single.  

Both pitching staffs held tough, and sent the game to extra innings. Platteville scored twice in the top of the tenth thanks to three straight singles. The Lynx played solid defense, getting an out at home plate in the fourth at bat of the inning to escape any further damage. That set the table for an epic comeback. An error from the shortstop brought in Brendan Phelan, who started the inning on second. Kimbrough was up next, and he reached on a throwing error, putting two men on. A sac bunt from Heurtin put two men in scoring position with one out. Dante Messina stepped up next, and stung a groundball through the right side that scored pinch-runner Kofi Whitehead and tied the game. With the winning run on third, Cleanthes chose to get his 500th win in style, calling for the squeeze bunt. Mitchell O'Berry laid down a beauty, scoring Kimbrough and ending the game at 10-9. 

York reached base safely five times to lead the offense. Kimbrough had two runs and two RBI as well. 

Game Two
Wisconsin Whitewater 5
Rhodes 0

The second game of the day was mostly a pitcher's duel. No runs were scored in the first three innings as both Jaxon Cady and Westin Muir matched each other pitch for pitch. The Warhawks broke through in the fourth inning, however. A throwing error put the first batter on base, followed by a double. A walk would load the bases, followed by a two-run single from Zach Campbell. A hit by pitch and two bases-loaded walks brought in two more runs to make it 4-0 and chase Cady from the game. 

The Lynx never found a groove on offense, stringing together only three hits for the game. The Warhawks added one more run in the seventh to make the final of 5-0. 

Muir ended up with seven innings of shutout baseball, allowing only two hits and striking out six in the win. John Gibbs and Andy Hanaway were strong in relief for the Lynx, tossing 4.2 innings while allowing only one hit and striking out four. 

Rhodes and Whitewater will get a quick sleep in, and see each other on the field again tomorrow morning. First pitch is scheduled for 10:00 am eastern.