MARS HILL, N.C. --- The Tusculum College baseball team hit six home runs on the day, including three by Sean Cotten and a pair from Jared Richmond as the Pioneers split a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader at Mars Hill College Saturday afternoon at Henderson Field.
Cotten (Mooresville, N.C.) and Richmond (Fort Smith, Ark.) each hit two home runs in Tusculum's 13-11 win in the opener, while the Lions rallied with three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to capture the night-cap, 7-6.
Tusculum improves to 29-16 overall and 13-11 in the league to finish fifth in the final conference standings as the Pioneers win the weekend series over Mars Hill (27-15, 16-8 SAC), two games to one. Both teams have qualified to play in next week's Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament in Forest City, N.C. Official seeding and bracket will be released by the league office later this weekend.
Game 1: Tusculum 13, Mars Hill 11 (Box Score)
Richmond went 3-for-6 with six RBI to lead Tusculum to a 13-11 victory in the opener for TC's fourth consecutive victory.
Tusculum pounded out 16 hits, including three by Sean Finucane (Cortland, N.Y.) and two each by Cotten and Nate Grabowski (Pennellville, N.Y.) as the Pioneers led wire-to-wire, but had to hold off a furious Mars Hill rally at the end.
The Pioneers jumped out to a 10-2 lead through the first five innings. Tusculum plated two runs in the second inning thanks to a two-run, two out single by senior Eric Barclay (Oak Ridge, Tenn.). After MHC scored a run in the bottom of the second, Cotten connected on a solo blast in the third inning and Richmond hit a three-run homer in the fourth. TC plated four more runs in the top of the fifth inning as Paul Finger (Lincolnton, N.C.) reached on an error and later scored on a wild pitch. With Rolondo Bonner (Garner, N.C.) and Barclay aboard, Richmond hit his second three-run homer in as many innings.
Tusculum added two more runs in the sixth inning to take a 12-2 advantage as Finucane led off with a single and Cotten followed with his second home run of the contest.
The Lions began their comeback attempt in the sixth inning when Patrick Davidson (Swannanoa, N.C.) and Mike Kitt (West Islip, N.Y.) each went yard to cut the deficit to 12-5. TC added another run in the seventh as Richmond drew a walk, moved to second base on a wild pitch and scored on Grabowski's one-out single.
In the Mars Hill eighth inning, Rusty Smith (Leesburg, Va.) and Brandon Savoca (Riegelwood, N.C.) each hit two-run homers to highlight a six-run Mars Hill half of the frame. TC reliever Cy Young (Salisbury, N.C.) ended the threat with a strikeout.
The Lions made more noise in their half of the ninth inning as Davidson led off with a single. Senior Raymond Ruggles (Newport, Tenn.) came aboard and got Jared Yanniello to ground into a double play. That would prove to be huge as Michael Bueker (Cooper City, Fla.) singled, bringing the tying run to the plate. Kitt lifted a fly ball deep to left field, but was caught just shy of the fence by Bonner to end the game as Ruggles accounted for his second save of the season.
TC starter Taylor Rakes (Norcross, Ga.) got the win for Tusculum as he went seven innings, allowed five runs, two earned, scattered eight hits, walked two and struck out four to improve to 4-2 on the season. Kevin Searcy (Hendersonville, N.C.) was tagged with the loss for Mars Hill, surrendering six earned runs on nine hits over his four innings.
Game 2: Mars Hill 7, Tusculum 6 (Box Score)
In the second game, Adam Lewis (MacClenny, Fla.) went 2-for-4, including his game-winning two-run walk-off double in the bottom of the seventh inning as Mars Hill salvaged a 7-6 victory, while halting the Lions' three-game losing streak.
Tusculum jumped out to a 3-0 advantage in the fourth inning as Richmond and Grabowski led off with back-to-back doubles. Finucane capped the frame with his two-run homer over the left field fence.
Mars Hill cut the deficit to one run with a pair of scoring tallies in the fifth inning. Dalton Hardee (Boone, N.C.) hit a run-scoring double, and Bueker registered a sacrifice fly cut the TC lead to 3-2.
Cotten hit his third home run of the afternoon, a solo shot to left field in the sixth to double the Tusculum lead, but the Lions tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Lewis drove home a run with a single to right field, and Smith scored when Savoca reached on an error.
The Pioneers grabbed a two-run advantage in the top of the seventh inning. Finucane whacked a RBI single through the right side, and Finger forced in a run when he reached on a fielder's choice.
The Lions answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning to win the game. Kitt drove in the first run with a single up the middle. With bases loaded and one out, Lewis hit a walk-off two-run double to center field.
Justin Hall (Martinsville, Va.) threw seven innings in the win for Mars Hill. He allowed five earned runs on 12 hits. Cody Stites (Festus, Mo.) suffered his first loss of the year (4-1) with Tusculum.
Houser and Grabowski each tallied at least a hit in each game on Saturday to extend their hitting streaks to 21 consecutive contests. Finucane now has also hit safely in his last 11 games.
Like Friday, it was another record-breaking day for Richmond. He took over sole possession of the school's all-time home run record on Friday and added to his career tally with home runs No. 33 and No. 34. On Saturday, he also established a new single-season record with 23 home runs this year, breaking the deadlock with former TC All-American Guy O'Connell (21 in 2003). Richmond's 23 homers are just one shy of the SAC single-season mark, set by Wingate University's Darren Hayes (1995) and David Trexler of Catawba College (1999).
Richmond established a new TC single-season RBI record as he has posted 71 this year, surpassing the 68 RBI tallied by Skip Talarek in 2005.
Cotten is not far off the RBI pace being set by Richmond. His four runs batted in on Saturday gives Cotten 68 on the season. His three homers also lifts his season tally to 15 (4th in TC history) and his career mark to 27 (T3rd in TC history). He is closing in on the TC record for career RBI as he now has 142 to his credit, which are fourth all-time and just four shy of the school record (146) held by George Hanger (2002-05).
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