RICHMOND, Ind. — The Earlham College baseball team evened its Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference record on Tuesday as the Quakers beat Mount St. Joseph University 8-0 in Randal R. Sadler Stadium.

The Quakers continue to add to their best start in school history at 12-3 overall. They are 2-2 in the conference and in sixth place.

Earlham starter Bryce Rainey and Garrett York combined to blank the Lions (6-7, 1-3) on five hits.

Rainey (3-0) went a career-high seven innings and gave up four hits with four strikeouts to earn the victory. He threw seven innings twice last season.

York worked the final two frames and surrendered a hit, while striking out one. He lowered his team-best ERA to 0.69.

It was the first shutout for the Quakers since April 16, 2014. Rainey tossed seven innings in that 1-0 win over Mount St. Joseph.

Quick Start

The Quakers picked up a run in the first inning to take an early lead. After Nate Lynch singled, Thomas Rea was hit by a pitch and Brennan Laird reached first on catcher's interference. Brandon Smalling followed with a ground out that pushed Lynch across the plate.

In the fifth, the Quakers extended their margin with five runs.

Laird knocked in two with a single to make it 3-1. Laird and Devin Spurgon later scored on errors by the Lions, while Cody Krumlauf had a RBI on a fielder's choice.

Earlham added two more runs in the seventh. Smalling scored on an error and Eric Elkus had a sacrifice fly for the final tally of the game.

Lynch, Laird and Spurgon led the Quakers with two hits each.

The Quakers are back in action at home this weekend with a three-game HCAC series against Transylvania University. The opener is on Friday at 4 p.m. The two teams meet for a doubleheader on Saturday at noon.