Offensive Outburst Fuels Softball Sweep of Tusculum

GREENEVILLE, TENN. – The Mars Hill softball team used a balanced attack all afternoon to sweep a doubleheader against Tusculum College on Tuesday, April 05 at Red Edmonds Field. The Lions used stellar pitching and timely hitting to take game one, 5-1, before breaking out the offense in game two, winning 11-7. MHU improves to 11-18 overall and 5-7 in the South Atlantic Conference while dropping TC to 17-23 overall and 3-9 within league play.

GAME ONE

The Lions were the aggressor early, jumping ahead 2-0 in the top of the first inning. Romine continued her hot hitting as she led the game off with a double to left field before moving to third on well-executed sacrifice bunt by Kaleigh Jonas. Taylor Lail followed that with a double down the right field line to plate Romine before coming around to score herself on a knock up the middle by Jamie Booze.

Shelby Culler avoided giving one of those runs back in the home-half of the first after allowing a one-out triple. With runners on second and third, Culler came up with a huge strikeout and got the next batter to line out to right to end the threat.

Mars Hill tacked on two more runs in the top of the fourth. Ragan Broome led the inning off with a solid hit to right field and was moved over to second on a sac bunt. Following an infield single by Emily Crouse, both runners advanced one base after a wild pitch. Ally Sherman then used her speed and beat out another single in the dirt, allowing Broome to touch the plate. Romine added a RBI groundout to stake the visitors to a 4-0 lead after three and half.

Tusculum was able to put up a single run in the bottom of the fifth, but the Lions wreaked havoc on the bases in the top of the seventh to get that run back. Sherman started the inning with her third hit of the game and moved to second after a bunt. Jonas collected an infield single, putting runners on the corners with one out. The Blue and Gold then executed a beautiful double steal with Sherman swiping home to make the score 5-1.

That would be more than enough support as Sydney Elkin slammed the door in the bottom of the seventh and secured the game-one win for Mars Hill. The key stat of game one was the Lions were 4-4 with runners on third with less than two out.

Sherman led the way at the plate during game one, going 3-for-3 with a RBI and one run scored. Shelby Culler improved to 6-3 on the year as she fired five innings of three-hit ball without allowing an earned run while Elkin picked up her second save of the season after pitching two innings of one-hit relief.

GAME TWO

Mars Hill collected two runs in the top of the first behind three walks and RBI hits from Jamie Booze and Casey Stanek. However, TC would come right back in the bottom of the first to plate two runs of its own to knot the game 2-2. The Lions were able to collect a single run in the top of the second to take a 3-2 lead following a two-out hit from Kayleigh Jonas.

Tusculum was able to take its first lead of the afternoon following a three-spot in the bottom of the second inning to push ahead 5-3, but that advantage was short-lived as the Lions bounced back to tie the game in the third with two runs and go back ahead with a pair of runs in the fourth. Lail and Broome each added a RBI in the frame.

The Blue and Gold continued to pad their lead with a big three-run fifth. Krista Romine started the rally with a leadoff infield hit and was moved over to second by a sacrifice bunt from Madelyn Furr. Jonas continued to torment Pioneer pitching with a screaming double to left center, plating Romine. Erin Vickery collected a hit to put runners on first and third with one out. Following a strikeout, Ragan Broome roped a double to center field to score Jonas and Vickery and push the lead to 10-5.

The Pioneers cut the gap to 10-7 with a pair of runs in the fifth, but Mars Hill added a single run in the sixth off of a homerun from Ellen Tillman and shut down the TC bats to seal the deal with an 11-7 win.

The Lions were able to pound out a season-high 19 hits to go along with the 11 runs. Romine, Jonas, Booze and Tillman each chipped in three hits while Broome collected four RBIs. Romine and Jonas also tallied three runs scored in the nightcap.

After earning the save in game one, Sydney Elkin took the win for game two, tossing 5 1/3 innings and allowing only one earned run on five hits. She improves her record to 5-8 overall.

Mars Hill will continue its road swing on Saturday, April 9 as they travel to face conference foe Catawba. First game of the doubleheader is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.