GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum infielder Rudy Fernandez hit a pair of home runs in each contest in a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader split with arch rival Carson-Newman Sunday afternoon at Pioneer Park.
The Eagles won the first game 9-8 in 10 innings, while the Pioneers scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning including a solo home run by Fernandez to tie the game and later followed by a walk-off single by Ryan Dos Santos as TU prevailed 2-1 in the night-cap.
Fernandez, who homered in a mid-week win last week against Mars Hill, has hit a home run in three consecutive games.
The two teams will play the rubber-game of the three-game SAC series on Monday beginning at 3 p.m.
Game 1: Carson-Newman 9, Tusculum 8 (10 innings)
Zach Boze drove in the game-winning run in the top of the 10th inning as Carson-Newman edged Tusculum 9-8 in the series opener.
The Eagles finished the game with 15 hits including multi-hit performances by Boze, Henry Jackson, Gunner Ricketts, Harrison Travis, Killan Daughtry, Michal Genter and Jordan Griffin.
Tusculum accounted for 10 total hits including Zane Keener's 2-for-4 performance with three RBI, while Zach Brunet and Fernandez had two hits apiece.
The Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Daughtry's RBI single. Tusculum answered in the bottom of the frame a Christian Ortega belted a two-run homer to give TU a 2-1 lead.
C-N responded in the third frame with three runs including another run-scoring single by Daughtry to tie the game and Micah Genter's two-run single gave the Eagles a 4-2 advantage. TU tied the game again at 4-4 on Fernandez' two-run homer.
Carson-Newman broke the tie in the fifth with Harrison Travis' solo homer and the Eagles broke the game open with three runs in the top of the eighth as C-N posted three runs on three hits and two TU errors to take an 8-4 lead.
In the top of the ninth, the Pioneers tallied three straight hits to start the inning including Dos Santos' RBI hit to make it an 8-5 game. Keener would follow with a three-run homer to tie the game at 8-8 and send TU to its school-record eighth extra inning contest this year.
In the 10th, Ricketts reached on a one-out infield hit and Boze followed with his RBI double to give the Eagles a 9-8 lead. The Pioneers had the tying and winning runs on base, but back-to-back strikeouts by Jake Wright ended the game and send C-N to its seventh win in a row in Greeneville.
Wright picked up the victory as he went 1.2 innings, allowed one walk and four strikeouts to move his record to 1-3.
Game 2: Tusculum 2, Carson-Newman 1
With the opening game proving to be an offensive display, most of the second was a pitching duel between Tusculum's Tyler Harmon and C-N's Matt Bradley.
The only run to cross the plate for the first six innings was Matt Parkinson's sacrifice fly as Carson-Newman led 1-0.
It would remain that way until the bottom of the seventh when Fernandez blast a solo blast off the scoreboard in left field to even the score at 1-1. TU's Ryan Kavulick laced a double to left field with one out in the inning. Jaden Steagall came into pinch run as Dos Santos singled off a diving second baseman, allowing Steagall to score the game-winning run.
Harmon tossed the first complete game of his collegiate career as he went seven innings, allowed one run on five hits, three walks and a career-best eight strikeouts to improve to 2-0.
Bradley pitched 5.2 shutout innings where she scattered five hits, one walk and seven strikeouts. C-N reliever Noah Pridmore suffered the loss to go to 3-3 on the season.
Tusculum finished the game with eight hits as Keener and Ortega had two hits apiece.
