HICKORY, N.C. --- Sean Cotten went 3-for-4 with a home run as the third-seeded Tusculum Pioneers pounded out 15 hits to beat fourth-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne, 12-3 Thursday night at Bears Field in opening action of the 2008 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament.

Tusculum (35-12, ranked No. 29 in NCAA Division II) advances to face second-seeded Carson-Newman on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. Lenoir-Rhyne (21-29) will face top-seeded Catawba at 3:45 p.m. on Friday afternoon.

The top six in the Tusculum lineup combined for 13 hits as the Pioneers scored three in the third and four in the sixth to advance.

TC starter Boo Morrow (7-0) worked seven and two thirds innings, striking out nine to pick up the win. Bears' starter Chris Henderson (Lincolnton, N.C) took the loss, allowing six runs in six innings.

Lenoir-Rhyne grabbed the early lead in the top of the first, as Evan Taylor (Charlotte, N.C.) singled home Hank Wofford (Clover, S.C.), who reached on an error. Taylor ripped an offering from Morrow (Lexington, Ky.) into left field to give the Bears the 1-0 lead.

The Pioneers answered with two in the bottom of first to take a 2-1 lead.

Centerfielder Carlos Rivera (Leesburg, Va.) lined a one-out single to right center to begin the Tusculum answer. Gonzalez followed with a bunt single down the third-base line, extending his hitting streak to 22 consecutive games. Eric Conley (Knoxville, Tenn.) followed by drawing a walk to give the Pioneers bases loaded with one out.

Cotten (Mooresville, N.C.) delivered with a line-drive single to right, scoring Rivera and Gonzalez.

After a scoreless second, L-R would tie the game at 2-2 on a solo home run by J.D. Harrison (Winter Haven, Fla.), his fourth of the season.

Tusculum would seize control in the bottom of the third, scoring the game's next nine runs to put the game out of reach.

Conley added a two-run single in the third as Tusculum scored three in the inning to take a 5-2 lead.

The Pioneers pushed the lead to 6-2 in the fifth as Cotten scored after ripping a one-out triple. Marc Hyndsman (Oceansport, N.J.) allowed himself to be caught in a rundown, giving Cotten the time to score as the inning ended.

Senior Matt Webb's (Duluth, Ga.) bases loaded triple keyed the four-run sixth as the Pioneers broke the game open. Webb's yanked an offering from L-R reliever Jesse Beane (Collettsville, N.C.) down the left field line to clear the bases and put Tusculum up 9-2. He would score on another RBI single by Conley to give the Pioneers a 10-2 lead.

Cotten hit his third home run of the season in the ninth to add some final fireworks to the Pioneer win.

- SAC -