HICKORY, N.C. --- Chris Tucker's sacrifice fly in the 10th inning drove in the game-winning run to lead the Lenoir-Rhyne University baseball team to a 5-4 South Atlantic Conference victory over visiting Tusculum College Friday night at Bears Field.
The Bears (17-21, 8-11 SAC) rallied from a 4-2 deficit in the seventh to halt the Pioneers' 11-game winning streak. The two teams will wrap up the three-game weekend series on Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader.
Lenoir-Rhyne pounded out 11 hits, but none bigger than Evan Taylor's, two-run, two-out homer to left field to tie the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning.
It was a strong pitching performance by both starters in TC junior Tyler Collins and Lenoir-Rhyne's Chris Henderson.
L-R's Alex Cooks went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, including the game-winner in the 10th when he led off the frame when he was hit by a pitch. He moved to third base on Stephen Andrews second hit of the evening, when he singled to right field and moved to second on the throw.
Jared Richmond led the Tusculum bats, going 2-for-3, including his 17th home run of the season. It was also Richmond's 28th career home run, moving him within two round-trippers of the Tusculum school record (30 by Shane Banks, 1997-99, 2001).
The Pioneers (25-14, 10-9 SAC) got on the board in the second inning as Payden Houser led off with a double and later scored on Matt Henriksen's RBI groundout.
The Bears knotted the contest at 1-1 in the bottom of the frame as Cooks reached on a one-out and followed with a stolen base. Andrews doubled to right field bring home Cooks with the tying run. L-R took its first lead of the game in the third as the Bears took advantage of a pair of hits and two Tusculum errors to score a run, that coming on Rob Knight's RBI single.
Tusculum regained the lead in the fifth inning as Eric Barclay singled and scored on Richmond's two-run blast to right center as the Pioneers led 3-2. TC added an insurance run in the seventh as Rolondo Bonner was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Bonner stole second and scored on a throwing error on the play as Tusculum led 4-2.
In the seventh, Collins gave up a single to Hank Wofford, sandwiched between two strikeouts. But Taylor stepped up and clubbed a two-run homer to tie the game at 4-4.
Both starters surrendered the game to their bullpen in the later innings. Tusculum's Raymond Ruggles pitched a perfect bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings. L-R's Brian Chandler (4-4) retired the side in order in the 10th to set up the Bears for the late-game heroics to pick up the win.
Collins went seven innings, where he allowed nine hits, four unearned runs, three earned, walked two and struck out 10 in the no-decision.
Henderson also struck out 10 batters as he went nine innings, allowed eight hits, four runs, walked four and posted 13 strikeouts.
Barclay, Richmond and Payden Houser each recorded two hits as the Pioneers posted eight hits, ending TC's string of 13 games in a row with 10 or more hits. Houser and Nate Grabowski extend their hitting streaks to 15 consecutive games.
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