COLUMBIA, S.C. – Justin Murray had a two-run homer to give the Benedict College baseball team a 5-0 lead and the Tigers went on to take a 5-2 victory over Lincoln University in the second game of a non-conference doubleheader on Thursday at Tiger Field.
 
Lincoln scored five runs in the seventh inning to pull away from a close game and win the first game 11-3.
 
Kenyan Conner Jr. opened the scoring in the second game, coming home on a wild pitch in the second inning. An error in the third inning allowed Jacob Hall to score, and Anthony Makinster laid down a sacrifice bunt in the fourth inning to score Taj Bates for a 3-0 lead. Hall singled in the fifth inning and Murray blasted a shot to right field to make it 5-0.
 
The Lions scored two runs in the sixth inning, but Jamell Mitchell Jr. came on in relief in the seventh inning to shut the Lions down and earn the save.
 
Lincoln jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first game, but the Tigers scored three runs in the fifth inning. Kent Johnson had an RBI single, and Nicholas Gioia hit a sacrifice fly. Johnson then came home on a single by Mitchell to trim the lead to 6-3.
 
The Lions, now 3-3, pulled away with five runs in the seventh inning, scoring all five runs with two outs.
 
Benedict, now 4-4 on the season, travels to Memphis, Tenn., for a three-game conference series against LeMoyne-Owen, with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 12 p.m. Central (1 p.m. Eastern).