SALISBURY, N.C. --- Charles Hall pitched eight shutout innings with career-high 11 strikeouts to lead Tusculum to a 10-1 South Atlantic Conference baseball victory at Catawba Friday night at Newman Park.
Seven different Pioneers (12-11, 6-4 SAC) drove in a run as Tusculum claimed the series opener over the Catawba Indians (11-16, 6-4 SAC). The two teams will wrap up the weekend series with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday.
Hall (1-1) scattered three hits and four walks in a gutty 127-pitch performance as he worked out of a pair of testy jams in the third and fourth innings. Meanwhile, Tusculum tacked on runs from the third through the seventh innings and added four more on Bradley Evans' pinch-hit grand slam in the ninth inning.
Pioneers scored one run in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Jarel McDade got the scoring started in the third inning with his one-out, solo home run that was a no-doubter over the left field wall.
In the bottom of the third inning, Catawba was looking to answer as the home team loaded the bases with one out. But Hall got a strikeout and a ground out to end the inning.
Jake Wapinsky added another run in the fourth with his sacrifice fly to bring home Colby Skeen. Trailing 2-0, the Catawba Indians got the first batters aboard when Heath Mitchem led off with a double and Jackson Raper followed with a walk to put the tying runs aboard. Hall escaped any damage with a pair strikeouts and a fly out.
Tusculum's Daulton Martin led off the fifth frame with his third home run of the year and Edison Cabrera made it a 4-0 contest with his second double of the night, a RBI hit to center field to drive in Zack Finchum.
TC added two runs in the seventh on Skeen's sacrifice fly out and Finchum's run-scoring double.
The Pioneers racked up 11 hits with Cabrera going 3-for-5, while the trio of Martin, McDade and Finchum finished with two hits apiece.
Catawba starter Riley Myers suffered the loss to go to 2-4 on the year.
For Martin, his 2-for-5 effort extends his on-base streak to 35 consecutive games dating back to last season.
