COLUMBUS, Ga. --- The Tusculum College baseball team saw its run in the NCAA Division II Southeast Region Tournament come to an end Sunday night with an 8-2 loss to the University of South Carolina Aiken in the elimination bracket final at Burger King Stadium.

The fifth-seeded Pioneers (38-18) had defeated the University of Mount Olive 3-2 earlier in the day Sunday to advance, but lost to the fourth-seeded Pacers (40-17) for the second time in the tournament. USC Aiken will face second-seeded Lander University on Monday afternoon for the right to advance to the Division II College World Series.

The Pioneers were making their first appearance in the Southeast Regional since 2012, when they also finished in third place. Tusculum finished the season with its 14th consecutive 30-win campaign and 16th straight winning record, all under head coach Doug Jones.

Tusculum 3, Mount Olive 2 - box score
Christian Raasch carried a shutout into the eighth inning and Kevin Victoriano hit a two-run home run as the Pioneers eliminated the seventh-seeded Trojans (33-21).

Raasch (8-4) worked 7 2/3 inning for the Pioneers, allowing two earned runs on six hits while striking out four. Devan Watts came on with the tying run on base in the eighth and retired all four batters he faced for his sixth save of the year.

Victoriano's home run was his 18th of the season, good for fifth on the Tusculum single-season home run list. His homer came in the bottom of the third inning and gave the Pioneers a 2-0 lead. Tusculum's other run crossed the plate in the bottom of the fourth on a bases-loaded walk to Jeovanny Tolentino.

After threatening in the second against Trojan starter Dario Santangelo (3-4), the Pioneers took the lead in the third as Tolentino led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by J.J. Wesley. After a groundout, Victoriano hit a 1-2 pitch over the left-field fence to give Tusculum a 2-0 lead.

In the fourth, Zack Finchum singled with one out before Santangelo hit John Topoleski and Cole Baxley with pitches to load the bases. Tolentino then walked on a full count to force home Finchum and extend the Tusculum lead to 3-0.

Raasch worked out of trouble in the fifth as a leadoff single was erased on a double play started by Finchum at second base. In the sixth, the Pioneers loaded the bases on a single by Topoleski and walks to Tolentino and Jeremy Glore, but reliever Ethan Horne was able to retire the side on a fly ball to keep the margin at 3-0.

The Trojans came to life in the eighth as David Mayo led off with a single, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Ricky Surum that cut the Pioneer lead to 3-1. After a strikeout, Zak Orrison brought home Surum with a single to pull the Trojans within 3-2. Watts came on in relief of Raasch and retired Jack Sherrill on a deep fly ball to retire the side in the eighth, then set the Trojans down in order in the ninth for the save.

Mount Olive finished with a slim 6-5 edge in hits over Tusculum, with Mayo finishing 2-for-3 with a run scored. Tolentino and Nick Lacina each went 1-for-2 with two walks for the Pioneers, who drew six walks from the Trojan pitching staff in the game.

Santangelo allowed for hits and three earned runs in 5 1/3 innings for Mount Olive, striking out four and walking five while throwing 112 pitches. Horne and Bruce Zimmerman combined for 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief for the Trojans, allowing one hit and one walk.

#19 USC Aiken 8, Tusculum 2 - box score
Nick Yobbi went the distance on an eight-hitter and Charles Padilla went 4-for-5 as part of a 14-hit attack for the 19th-ranked Pacers, who built an early 5-0 lead en route to defeating the Pioneers for the second time in the regional. USC Aiken defeated Tusculum 2-1 in the regional opener on Thursday.

Yobbi (6-3) struck out five and walked two for the Pacers while retiring 12 of the final 14 hitters he faced. Meanwhile, the USC Aiken offense took advantage of three Tusculum errors to score two unearned runs in both the third and fourth innings.

Wesley went 2-for-3 with a walk for the Pioneers, who cut into the Pacers' lead in the fifth on RBI singles by Finchum and Lacina. However, the Pacers scored twice in the seventh and once more in the ninth to lock up a trip to the regional finals.

USC Aiken took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as Mitchell Price was hit by a pitch from Tusculum starter Ethan Carpenter, took second on a wild pitch and scored on a single up the middle by Chaz Pal. Tusculum threatened in the first as Wesley led off with a single, took second on a sacrifice bunt by Finchum and moved to third on a fly ball to right, but Yobbi stranded Wesley on another fly ball to right to end the inning.

The Pacers extended their lead to 3-0 in the third as Price led off with a double, but was unable to advance as Carpenter registered back-to-back strikeouts. A double error on a misplayed fly ball off the bat of Brian Parreira allowed Price to score on a bad throw for a 2-0 lead, and Skylar Mercado followed with a single for a 3-0 USC Aiken advantage.

In the fourth, leadoff singles by Padilla and Tyler Ammerman were followed by a wild pitch to put the runners in scoring position for Jonathan Banks, who reached on an error that allowed both Padilla and Ammerman to score and give the Pacers a 5-0 edge.

Tusculum came back with two runs in the bottom of the fifth on a rally that started with a one-out walk to Tolentino. Wesley reached on a bunt single to put two men on base for Finchum, who delivered a single to score Tolentino and pull the Pioneers within 5-1. After a fly out, Lacina came through with a single to score Wesley and cut the Pacer lead to 5-2, but Yobbi retired the potential tying run on a grounder to second.

USC Aiken added two runs in the seventh off Pioneer reliever McKenly Berry on an RBI single by Zach Moon and a bases-loaded walk to Ammerman, and tacked on their final run in the ninth on a solo home run by Luke Westerberg, his third of the season.

Carpenter (5-6) gave up seven hits and five runs (one earned) in three-plus innings of work for the Pioneers, striking out four and walking none. Berry tossed 3 2/3 innings of relief, yielding six hits and two earned runs, with Cameron Carney and Dillon Hardy finishing up with two strikeouts apiece.

- TC -