HARROGATE, Tenn. --- Luis Ezra finished the day with six hits, including three doubles as eighth-ranked Tusculum University swept a South Atlantic Conference baseball doubleheader at Lincoln Memorial University Sunday afternoon at Lamar Hennon Field.
Tusculum won the opener 7-3 and followed with a 9-3 triumph in the night-cap to take the weekend series 3-1. It was the Pioneers' fourth straight SAC series win to improve to 13-3 in league play.
In Sunday's doubleheader sweep, the Pioneers totaled 23 hits including 13 extra base hits with 11 doubles and two triples.
Tusculum has matched its best start in school history going 17-4 through 21 games. The only other team to start a season so quickly was the 2012 squad, which swept the SAC regular-season and tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA II Southeast Regional, finishing the year with a 48-10 record.
Game 1: No. 8 Tusculum 7, Lincoln Memorial 3
Ezra went 3-for-4 at the plate, while TU reliever Mitch McCain got out of a bases loaded jam in the fifth inning to record his third save in the Pioneers' 7-3 win over the Railsplitters in the first game.
TU's Brandon Trammell and Murphy Flood accounted for two hits each in the victory.
The Pioneers led throughout jumping out to a 4-0 lead with two runs each in the second and third innings. Bryson Ford and Trammell each had a RBI double in the third.
LMU clawed back into the fray scoring a run in the fourth and two times in the fifth. With McCain on in relief, he got a double play ground out to end the threat and preserve the 4-3 lead.
Tusculum scored twice in the sixth inning, including a squeeze bunt from Jaden Steagall and a Flood RBI double increase the lead to 6-3. Daalen Adderley added a RBI triple in the seventh to provide the final margin of victory.
McCain retired 9 of the last 10 batters he would face to secure his team-leading third save of the season and 10th of his TU career, moving him into a tie for seventh-place all-time with Mark Fraser (1995-1996). It was also his 65 career mound appearance, the sixth-most in program history.
Game 2: No. 8 Tusculum 9, Lincoln Memorial 3
Tusculum starting pitcher Tyler Harmon recorded a career-high 12 strikeouts and Ezra tied a TU single-game record with three doubles as the Pioneers completed the sweep with a 9-3 win in the second contest.
TU posted 13 hits including eight doubles, which are tied for the second most in school history and one off the record nine set against Carson-Newman on Apr. 4, 2004.
Also getting in on the double-parade where Fuzzy Furr with his two, while Ford, Trammell and Chase Wullenweber also tallied a double apiece. Ezra becomes the ninth player in school history to have a three-double game and the first since Heath Comerford tied the mark against Trevecca Nazarene on Apr. 9, 2013.
The Pioneers vaulted out to a 5-0 lead through the first four innings including three runs in the third frame. LMU scored three times in the bottom of the fifth, but the Pioneers scored in the seventh and once in the eighth.
Ezra posted his second 3-hit outing of the day, while Ford, Trammell and Furr each had two-hit efforts.
Harmon (2-1) went 6.2 innings, allowed six hits, three runs, three walks and a dozen strikeouts. Justin Park pitched 1.1 shutout innings, while Trevor Lloyd fanned a pair in the ninth inning.
Tusculum is scheduled to return to action next weekend when they host Newberry College at Pioneer Park. The Wolves (9-6, 6-2 SAC) have paused team activities due to COVID protocols and have been out of action the past two weeks.
