KODAK, Tenn. --- Placido Torres scattered four hits and struck out nine in a complete-game performance as Tusculum College defeated Lincoln Memorial University 3-0 in the opening round of the Pilot/Flying J South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament Friday night at Smokies Stadium.
With the win, the third-seeded Pioneers (33-15) advance to face second-seeded Carson-Newman Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. The fourth-seeded Railsplitters (28-20) will try to avoid elimination when they play top-seeded Catawba Saturday at 3:45 p.m.
Torres (10-0) threw his sixth complete game and fourth shutout of the season for the Pioneers, while lowering his earned run average to 0.62. The senior lefthander, who was named SAC Pitcher of the Year earlier this week, gave up two hits in the first inning, but retired 18 of the final 19 batters he faced.
Tusculum gave Torres all the support he would need in the bottom of the first against Lincoln Memorial starter Ethan Elliott. With two outs, Creighton Wilke reached on an infield single and Kevin Victoriano followed with a single to right. Nick Lacina then hit a double down the right field line to bring home both runners and give the Pioneers a quick 2-0 lead.
The Pioneers added a run in the fourth as Lacina led off with a single and moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt by Zack Finchum. After a popup, Jim Tolle came through with a single to left-center to drive home Lacina and extend the Pioneer lead to 3-0.
Meanwhile, Torres cruised through the Railsplitter lineup after giving up a leadoff single in the fourth. Torres used a strikeout to get out of the fourth inning, then retired the side on three ground balls in the fifth. Torres added one strikeout in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to carry the shutout into the ninth.
The Pioneers had chances to expand their lead in the late innings, but could not cash in on a one-out single in the seventh by Jeovanny Tolentino. In the eighth, Tusculum loaded the bases as Victoriano reached on an error to lead off, Finchum walked with one out and Tolle was hit by a pitch with two outs, but LMU reliever Chase Randolph worked out of trouble to keep the score at 3-0.
Torres retired the first two batters in the ninth before yielding a two-out double to Eric Kalman, but struck out Wes Neiderland on his 138th pitch of the night for the final out. The lefty increased his school-record and NCAA-leading strikeout total to 150, while also setting a new Tusculum single-season record for innings pitched with 107.
Tusculum had nine hits in the game, led by Wilke and Lacina who each went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Kalman finished 3-for-4 for the Railsplitters, as he also had singles in the first and fourth innings. Logan Augustine had the only other hit for Lincoln Memorial on a first-inning single.
Elliott (10-2) worked 7 2/3 innings for the Railsplitters, allowing nine hits and three earned runs while walking one and striking out six.
In other SAC Tournament action on Friday, Catawba defeated Wingate 11-5 and Carson-Newman shut out Newberry 3-0. Newberry and Wingate will meet in an elimination game at noon on Saturday.
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