Baseball Blanked by Tusculum

GREENEVILLE, TENN. - The Mars Hill baseball team lost the South Atlantic Conference opener 4-0 to Tusculum on Friday afternoon at Pioneer Park. Tusculum improves to 1-3 overall and 1-0 in the league while Mars Hill drops to 1-3 and 0-1.

Evan Rogers went two-for-four with a double and stolen base to lead the Lions. David King went one-for-four with a triple. Phillip Carroll and Rayshelon Carolina each had a single.

Vinny Ferrara and Creighton Wilke each doubled, with Wilke scoring two runs. Jalen Shuffler singled and scored, while Jeremiah Tulledge scored a run.

Tusculum got on the board in the second inning as Wilke led off with a double and scored on a Victoriano single. Tulledge led off the third inning with a walk, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a Ferrara double.

In the Mars Hill fourth, Rogers led off with a single but was picked off. Following a King triple and a strikeout, Carroll was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners before a strikeout ended the inning. Tusculum added a run in the bottom half of the inning on a groundout and scored their final run of the game in the fifth on a passed ball.

Placido Torres earned the win, allowing three hits with three walks and 11 strikeouts in seven innings.

Andy Runion was charged with the loss after he allowed four runs, two earned, on four hits with three walks in six innings. Kaleb McCurry pitched two innings in relief with a walk and two strikeouts.

Mars Hill and Tusculum will conclude their three game series tomorrow with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.