Baseball Loses Double-Header to Tusculum

MARS HILL, N.C. – Tusculum swept a double-header from Mars Hill in South Atlantic Conference baseball action Saturday afternoon at Henderson Field. The Lions fell to 8-10 overall and 0-2 in the league. The Pioneers improved to 9-7 on the season, 3-2 in the SAC.

Game 1: TC 19, MHU 8

Brett Brubaker led the Lions at the plate in the first game going 3-5 with a double and four RBI. Matt Honeycutt followed going 1-4 with a two-run homerun. Alec Bivins took the loss (2-3) on the mound for Lions.

Colby Skeen led the Pioneers at the plate. He went 3-6 with six RBI, a homerun, a double and four runs scored. Jeremy Glore and Dante Key followed with four hits apiece. They also tallied four RBI each. Tim Hardy picked up the win (4-0) pitching 5.1 innings scattering five hits while striking out 10 batters. Chase McAllister obtained his second save on the season throwing the final 3.2 innings.

Zach Lippincott doubled down the left field line in the Pioneers first at-bat to plate Glore and give Tusculum a 1-0 lead. Mars Hill took a 2-1 lead in the third inning when Shomarii Thomas scored on a Brubaker single and then Daniel Vitello scored on a double-steal.

The Pioneers then exploded for 10 runs in the top of the fourth frame on 10 hits and one Lion error. The at-bat was highlighted by a two-RBI single by John Topoleski and a RBI double by Key.

Honeycutt belted a two-run homerun in the bottom half of the fourth inning to cut the deficit 11-4. Travis Owens hit a sacrifice fly to left field to send Vitello to the plate in the fifth inning and then the Lions added three more runs in the sixth inning on one hit. After Mars Hill loaded the bases, Brubaker hit a double down the right field line that cleared the bases.

The Pioneers sealed the win scoring four runs in both the seventh and eighth innings. Skeen highlighted the Pioneers' seventh at-bat with a two-RBI double and then accounted for three of the four runs in the eighth inning with a three-run homerun to right field.

Game 2: TC 3, MHU 0

Honeycutt and Vitello accounted for both of the Lions' hits in game two. Zac Brown threw 6.2 innings allowing three runs on eight hits to take the loss (1-1) on the mound. He struck out three batters.

Edison Cabrera and Nick Lacina led the Pioneers with two hits apiece in the nightcap. Both players had an RBI apiece while Lacina added a double. Ethan Carpenter threw a complete game shutout allowing just a pair of hits while striking out eight batters.

Cabrera hit an infield single to score Key in the Pioneers fifth at-bat to make the score 1-0 in favor of the visitors. Lacina singled up the middle in the sixth frame to plate Skeen and Tusculum led 2-0. Zack Finchum crossed the plate on a fielder's choice in the seventh inning to make the final tally 3-0 in favor of the Pioneers. Solid pitching by Carpenter kept the Lions' bats at bay in game. MHU stranded five runners on base.

The teams will complete the three game series on Sunday when they meet for a single game at Henderson Field at 1 p.m.