GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Christian Rosa hit two home runs as the Tusculum College baseball team swept a non-conference doubleheader over visiting Concord University Tuesday afternoon at Pioneer Park. The Pioneers (10-6) won the first game 18-3 as Rosa clubbed two round-trippers in the opener, while TC pitcher Brandon Tuten struck 10 Mountain Lions in a 9-3 decision in the night-cap.
Despite the margin of victory, Tusculum had to rally from 3-1 deficits in both games as the Pioneers have won four consecutive games.
Game 1: Tusculum 18, Concord 3
Tusculum sent 16 players to the plate in a 12-run, fourth inning as the Pioneers prevailed 18-3. Paul Finger went 4-for-4 and scored four runs, while Ricky Feliz posted a 3-for-4 effort, including two RBI and scored three runs himself. Maikol Gonzalez went 2-for-3 with four RBI, including three in his two plate appearances in the fourth frame.
The Mountain Lions (1-7) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in their first at-bat as Ben Bennett drove home a run with a double and Tim Merolillo's RBI groundout accounted for the other scoring tally. TC cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the inning as Feliz singled and scored all the way from first base on Gonzalez hit-and-run. Concord answered with a run in the top of the second as Tyler Webb drew a walk, stole second and scored on Donovan Duffer's triple to center field.
With Concord leading 3-2 in the fourth, Tusculum took advantage of two errors and muscled out nine hits in a 12-run inning. The big hit came off from Rosa with his two-run blast over the center field wall, scoring Carlos Rivera, who tripled in the gap in right field. Of the 12 runs scored in the fourth, all but one was unearned.
The Pioneers plated four more runs in the fifth, including Rosa's lead-off homer to center field. Tusculum finished the contest with 17 hits.
TC starter Michael Handley (1-0) recorded the win as he went four innings, allowed five hits, three runs, walked one and struck out four. Concord's Drew McClanahan suffered the loss in his 3.2 innings of work.
Game 2: Tusculum 9, Concord 3
In the second game, Tusculum utilized another big inning as the Pioneers scored six times in the fifth inning en route to a 9-3 win.
Tuten (1-2) tossed five strong innings as he scattered three hits, allowed three runs, two earned, walked two and struck out 10. Reliever Eric Donahue tossed the final two innings as he walked one and struck out three.
Trailing 3-1 in the fifth, Tusculum batted around the line-up as the Pioneers got four hits, including a two-run double from Gonzalez and Mark Deans' RBI single as TC took advantage of a Concord miscue as TC led 7-3.
Tusculum put the game out of reach in its final at-bat when Webb led off with a single and scored on Ricky Feliz two-run homer to right field, his second round-tripper of the season.
Deans base knock extends his hitting streak to 10 straight games.
Tusculum returns to action on Wednesday when the Pioneers host King College.
