March 5, 2011
Ninth-Inning Rally Sends Tusculum to Sweep of Eagles, 9-4 and 7-3
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. --- Tusculum College finished off a three-game sweep of its South Atlantic Conference baseball series against Carson-Newman College by capturing both ends of the teams' doubleheader Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers won the opener 9-4 in 10 innings, rallying from a 4-2 deficit in the ninth to force extra innings, then took the nightcap 7-3 for their fifth straight victory. Tusculum, which took the series opener 5-3 on Friday afternoon, is 14-4 overall and 5-4 in the SAC while the Eagles drop to 6-14 overall and 3-6 in SAC play.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. --- Tusculum College finished off a three-game sweep of its South Atlantic Conference baseball series against Carson-Newman College by capturing both ends of the teams' doubleheader Saturday afternoon.
The Pioneers won the opener 9-4 in 10 innings, rallying from a 4-2 deficit in the ninth to force extra innings, then took the nightcap 7-3 for their fifth straight victory. Tusculum, which took the series opener 5-3 on Friday afternoon, is 14-4 overall and 5-4 in the SAC while the Eagles drop to 6-14 overall and 3-6 in SAC play.
Game 1: Tusculum 9, Carson-Newman 4 (10 innings)
The Pioneers trailed 4-2 entering the ninth, but tied the game with a pair of runs before exploding for five runs in the top of the 10th to come away with the victory. Trey Drewery went 3-for-5 with three runs batted in for the Pioneers, while Matt Henriksen finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and the game-tying hit in the ninth.
The Pioneers trailed 4-2 entering the ninth, but tied the game with a pair of runs before exploding for five runs in the top of the 10th to come away with the victory. Trey Drewery went 3-for-5 with three runs batted in for the Pioneers, while Matt Henriksen finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and the game-tying hit in the ninth.
Carson-Newman starter Alex Britt retired the first 17 batters he faced before giving up a two-out double to Branfy Arias in the sixth. Tusculum starter Jason Gardner was nearly as effective as Britt, allowing just one run on two hits through the first six innings.
The Pioneers used a two-out rally to score a pair of runs in the seventh. After Britt struck out the first two batters of the frame, he gave up a walk to Nate Reid and a single to Henriksen. Drewery followed with a double down the line in right to drive home both runners and give Tusculum a 2-1 lead.
Carson-Newman came back with three runs in its half of the seventh to take a 4-2 lead. Aaron Vargas drove in two runs with a triple off Gardner and Mason Guymon followed with an RBI single off Pioneer reliever Michael Franklin.
The Pioneers still trailed 4-2 entering the ninth with Britt on the mound for the Eagles. With one out, Cody Coffman walked and was replaced by pinch-runner Lukas Graves, while Britt departed in favor of Ben McKinney. Reid doubled to put runners at second and third, and Graves came home on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 4-3. Henriksen then followed with a double to left-center to knock in Reid with the tying run.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Eagles put runners at first and second with two outs, but Franklin induced a grounder to send the game into extra innings.
The Pioneers put two runners on with one out in the tenth as Alexi Colon led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice by Rolondo Bonner. After Sean Cotten was intentionally walked, Aaron Guinn reached on an error to load the bases. Pinch-hitter Seth Illian delivered the tiebreaking hit with a two-run double to right to give the Pioneers a 6-4 lead, and Tusculum added three more runs on a wild pitch, an RBI single by Drewery and a sacrifice fly by Payden Houser.
Franklin (3-2) closed out the Eagles in the bottom of the tenth to pick up the victory. He threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Gardner, allowing four hits and no walks while striking out two. Gardner pitched much better than his final numbers indicate, giving up four hits and four runs (three earned) over 6 1/3 innings, with seven strikeouts and three walks.
Britt worked 8 1/3 innings for the Eagles, allowing four earned runs on four hits and three walks while striking out seven. McKinney (0-2) took the loss for Carson-Newman, working one inning and giving up four hits and five runs (three earned) with a pair of walks.
Game 2: Tusculum 7, Carson-Newman 3
Dylan Hochevar carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning of the seven-inning game, and the bullpen finished the job to give the Pioneers the doubleheader sweep.
Bonner and Houser each finished with three hits as part of a 13-hit attack, while Bonner and Cotten hit back-to-back homers in the top of the first inning to give the Pioneers a quick 2-0 lead.
Cotten's homer was his fourth of the season and the 31st of his career, moving him into second place in school history behind TC home-run leader Jared Richmond (34 from 2009-2010).
Hochevar (2-0), making his first start of the season, gave up an unearned run without benefit of a hit in the fourth inning and carried a 5-1 lead into the sixth. Jonathan Dalton broke up the gem with a one-out double in the sixth, and the Eagles went on to score two runs in the inning on a two-out, two-run single by Walker Bullington off Pioneer reliever Zeke McGranahan.
The Pioneers tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the seventh on an RBI double by Houser and a run-scoring single by Colon. Trailing 7-3, the Eagles put two runners on with two outs before Tyler Collins came on to strike out Dalton to end the game and earn his first save of the year.
After the Pioneers jumped to the quick lead in the first, they added single runs in the second and third off Eagle starter Robby Thigpen (2-2). A bases-loaded walk to Cotten gave the Pioneers a 3-0 lead, and Houser picked up an RBI single in the third for a 4-0 advantage.
Carson-Newman scored a run in the fourth when Wesley Dozier reached on a one-out error, moved up on two wild pitches and scored on a groundout by Lucas Mohon.
In the sixth, the Pioneers went ahead 5-1 as Arias was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on Bonner's single off reliever Lucas Watson.
Arias went 2-for-2 at the plate for the Pioneers in the game, with Reid adding two hits in four trips with a run scored. Seven of the Pioneers' nine starters scored a run in the contest.
Carson-Newman returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts Bloomsburg (Pa.) at 2 p.m. at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
(Courtesy Tusculum College)
