Baseball Drops Double-Header at Tusculum

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – Mars Hill lost a double-header to SAC rival Tusculum Saturday at Pioneer Park. The Lions fell to 1-5 overall and 0-3 in the South Atlantic Conference. The Pioneers improved to 3-3 on the season and 3-0 in the league.

Game 1: Tusculum 8, Mars Hill 2

Dylan Powers, Tommy Scala and Christian Stampler recorded two hits each for Mars Hill.  MHU starter Zach Davies (0-1) suffered the loss.

Chris Waylock led Tusculum going 3-for-4, while Jalen Shuffler and Vinny Ferrara posted two hits apiece in the Pioneer's 8-2 win.

TC starter Ethan Carpenter (1-0) pitched 5 2/3 innings and scattered seven hits, allowed two runs, one earned, walked two and posted a strikeout in the victory.  Reliever Devan Watts pitched 3 1/3 innings of three-hit, shutout baseball to record his first save.  Watts finished with four strikeouts and no walks in his 49-pitch relief effort.

Tusculum plated three runs in the first inning as Shuffler led off with a triple and scored on a wild pitch.  Ferrara made it 2-0 when he blasted a solo home run over the left field fence.  Cody Andreychuck drew a walk and he later scored on Waylock's two-out single to right.

Ferrara came through again in his second plate appearance as he drove in Bowerman with a one-out single to right field.

Trailing 4-0, the Lions trimmed the deficit in half with a pair of runs in the fifth inning.  David King led off with a double and scored off of Christian Stampler's double.  Stampler moved to third on a passed ball and score on Rayshelon Carolina's two-out single as the Lions trailed 4-2.

Tusculum got a run back in the bottom of the inning as Waylock singled, moved to third on John Topoleski's second base hit of the game and scored on Bowerman's RBI groundout.

The Pioneers added a run in the sixth and two more in the ninth to provide the final scoring margin.

Game 2: Tusculum 10, Mars Hill 9

In the nightcap, Rogers finished the game going 3-for-4, while Carolina and Stampler tallied two hits each.

Tusculum rallied from a 9-7 deficit, including Bowerman's run-scoring fielder's choice in the seventh inning as the Pioneers edged the Lions 10-9.

TC jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two innings.  Shuffler led off the first with a solo home run and Scott Gibson followed in the second frame with a solo blast to left field.  In the second Waylock drew a walk and Bowerman reached on an error with one out.  Shuffler barely missed his second homer of the game as he tripled off the wall in right to drive in Waylock and Bowerman.  Shuffler would also cross the plate on Ferrara ground out.

The Lions roared back in the third as they sent 12 batters to the plate as MHU scored seven times on six hits and took advantage of two Tusculum errors to take a 7-5 lead.

Tusculum answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning to knot the game at 7-all.  The Lions broke the tie in the fifth inning with a two-out rally.  Evan Rogers doubled down the left field line and he scored on Carolina's RBI single and moved to second on the throw.  Carolina came across to score on Dylan Power's RBI double.  TC pitcher Michael Scott came aboard to get the final out of the inning as MHU led 9-7.

TC tied the game again in the fifth inning with a pair of runs.  Gibson led off with a base hit and Waylock drew a walk.  Topoleski's bunted them over into scoring position.  Gibson scored on a passed ball and Waylock advanced to third.  Bowerman singled home the tying run with his RBI single to make the score 9-9.

In the top of the seventh, the Lions had the runners at second and third with two outs, but Scott ended the threat with a strikeout.

Waylock led off the seventh with his fifth hit of the day and moved to second on a wild pitch.  After Topoleski flied out, Waylock stole third to put the winning run 90-feet way.  With a drawn-in infield, Bowerman hit a chopper up the middle that was fielded by Rogers at shortstop.  His throw to the plate was not in time as Waylock slid home with the game-winner.

Scott (1-1) picked up the win in relief as he scattered two hits in his 2 1/3 innings of shutout baseball. MHU reliever Nick Villalobos (0-1) suffered the loss as he pitched the final 1 2/3 innings.

Mars Hill will play at Belmont Abbey on February 10. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.