GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum pitching recorded 23 strikeouts on the afternoon and limited Mars Hill to four total runs as the Pioneers swept a South Atlantic Conference baseball doubleheader over the visiting Lions Sunday afternoon at Pioneer Park.
In the first game, the pitching trio of Luke Absher, Drew Sliwinski and Seth Willis combined on a two-hitter while fanning 13 batters as Tusculum won the opener 2-1.
In the night-cap, the Pioneers rallied from a 3-0 deficit scoring four unearned runs in the third inning and held on for a 5-3 victory.
Mars Hill outfielder Zach Weaver homered to open each game as he finished the day going 3-for-6 scoring three of the Lions' four total runs on a cold and windy afternoon.
Willis recorded a save in each contest while leaving the go-ahead runs stranded on base in both ends of the doubleheader.
Tusculum improves to 11-10 overall and 7-4 in the conference while Mars Hill goes to 8-13, 3-8 SAC.
Game 1: Tusculum 2, Mars Hill 1
Tusculum starter Luke Absher recorded eight strikeouts and allowed one run on two hits in his seven innings of work as the Pioneers edged Mars Hill 2-1.
Weaver belted the first pitch of the day over the left field wall for an early 1-0 lead. But from there, Absher retired the next 11 batters in a row and bot out of jams in the fifth and sixth innings to improve to 2-3 on the season. In his 92-pitcher performance he tallied eight strikeouts on two hits, allowed one run with zero walks.
Drew Sliwinski took over in the eighth inning as he fanned four for the game, including the first two batters to start the ninth before running into trouble as he walked back-to-back batters. Willis would take over and record the save by striking out pinch-hitter Paul Martin to end the game with the tying run at second base and the go-ahead tally at first.
Trailing 1-0 heading into the bottom of the third inning, Luis Reyes hit a one-out single, moved to second on Zane Keener's walk, stole second and scored on a wild pitch to knot the game at 1-1.
Tusculum had the bases loaded in the fourth inning but MHU reliever Nate Crissey got out of trouble as he got a pop up and a fly out to end the threat. In the fifth, Keener led off with a double for his 150th career hit at Tusculum. He would later score on Murphy Flood's two-out single to drive in the eventual game-winning run.
Game 2: Tusculum 5, Mars Hill 3
Murphy Flood went 2-for-3 with two runs scored while Seth Willis got the final three outs of the game including two via strikeouts as Tusculum held on for a 5-3 win over Mars Hill.
Weaver spotted the Lions the lead in his first at-bat as he homered for a second time on the day and fifth of the season. Alex Narran later drew a bases loaded walk as the Pioneers led 2-0. MHU added another tally in the second as Weaver walks and later scored on Alex Naran's RBI single as the Lions led 3-0.
In the bottom of the third, Tusculum sent 10 batters to the plate and took advantage of three hits, three walks and a costly MHU error to score four unearned runs to take a 4-3 lead. With two runners on and with two outs, Ben Scartz lifted a high fly ball to center field which was misplayed allowing both runners to score. With Scartz at second base, Flood tied the game with his two-out single. Jake Absher followed with a hit and Omar Carreras drove in the go-ahead run with his RBI single to left.
Tusculum added an insurance run in the fifth when Flood tripled to the right field corner and later scored on a fielder's choice to make it a 5-3 contest.
In the top of the seventh inning, MHU's Alex Naran led off with a single against TU reliever Caid Sanders. Willis took over for Sanders as Carter Potts lined a sharp single to right field for runners at first and second. Tai Gilbert hit a fly out to right field moving Naran to third base. With runners on the corners, Willis struck out Trey Putnam and Luke Hayes to end the game.
MHU out-hit the Pioneers by a 7-4 margin, but Tusculum pitching recorded 10 strikeouts including six by TU starter Brady Salyards who went 4.1 innings, allowed three runs, five hits and four walks to improve to 2-1 on the year. Sanders went 1.2 innings of shutout baseball where he struck out a pair. Willis added two more strikeouts giving him three in his 1.1 innings or work.
The two teams will wrap up the SAC series on Monday with a 1 p.m. game.
