GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Zane Keener went 6-for-8 on the day including a perfect 5-for-5 in the Saturday's first game as Tusculum split a South Atlantic Conference baseball doubleheader with UVA Wise at Pioneer Park.
Keener led a 15-hit barrage as the Pioneers won the series opener 13-2 in seven innings via run-rule. The Highland Cavaliers scored five runs in the final three innings while getting stellar pitching performances in a 5-2 victory in Saturday's night-cap.
Keener's day included five runs and five RBI while tallying a pair of doubles and his third home run of the season and 19th round-tripper of his career.
Tusculum (21-19, 15-11 SAC) and UVA Wise (12-29, 8-15 SAC) will play the series rubber-match on Sunday beginning at 1 p.m.
Game 1: Tusculum 13, UVA Wise 2
Keener recorded a career-high five hits with two doubles and a three singles to highlight Tusculum's 13-2 win over UVA Wise in the opener.
Keener's two-run double sparked a four-run, second inning as he finished the game with four RBI.
TU senior Ben Scartz went 3-for-3 with two-RBI, while graduate student Murphy Flood went 3-for-4 to extend his 18-game hitting streak. Senior Luis Reyes scored three runs and belted his first double of the year to go along with a pair of walks.
Senior Brady Salyards pitched five solid innings to improve to 4-1 on the season as he allowed two runs (one earned), six hits, five walks and posted eight strikeouts. Caid Sanders and senior Jake McKenna each pitched a shutout inning to close out the opener.
UVA Wise's Justin Reed went 3-for-4 at the plate, while DJ Dickson drew three walks as the Cavs stranded 13 runners on base.
Tusculum got on the board in the first as Keener led off with a bunt single and later scored on Scartz's 11th double of the season.
TU sent nine batters to the plate in the second as senior Will Samuelson led off with a walk and later scored on a RBI double from senior Jayden Singleton. After Reyes drew a one-out walk, Keener doubled to center to drive in Samuelson and Reyes to make it a 4-0 game. Zach Wilson was hit by a pitch and Scartz singled to right to load the bases. Flood lined out to center field which would be deep enough to bring home Keener with the inning's fourth run as TU led 5-0.
The Cavs would score its first run of the game in the third as Reed led off with a single and moved to third on a failed pickoff attempt. Collier Elkins would hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Reed and trim the deficit to 5-1. In the top of the fourth, Jaden Ruehling led off the frame with his first homer of the year to make it a 5-2 contest.
Tusculum would send nine batters to plate in both the fourth and fifth innings to put the game out of reach. In the fourth, TU would use three hits, three walks and a pair of errors to score four runs. In the fifth, the Pioneers used four hits including Wilson's RBI triple as TU scored three more times to make it a 12-2 game.
Tusculum added a run in the sixth on Keener's 11th double of the year to bring home Reyes.
Game 2: UVA Wise 5, Tusculum 2
UVA Wise overcame an early 1-0 deficit to score two runs in the fifth, two more in the sixth and another in the seventh as the Cavs posted a 5-2 victory to even the weekend series and snap a six-game losing streak.
Jake Weaver went 2-for-2 including his two-run homer in the sixth to plate two important insurance runs for UVA Wise.
Keener led off the first inning with his solo homer to right field for an early 1-0 lead. Including his perfect 5-for-5 game in Saturday's first game and his base hit in his final at bat of Wednesday's contest at 15th-ranked Lee University, Keener had recorded seven straight hits in as many plate appearances.
Tusculum got the lead-off batter aboard in the second when Omar Carreras walked. Samuelson hit a double to the gap in left center, but UVA Wise relayed the throw home and threw out Carreras at the plate. Wise starting pitcher got out of the jam with a line out and a ground out.
Tusculum starting pitcher Brice Anders was throwing a gem as he blanked the Cavs through the first four innings and retired the side in order in the first, third and fourth innings.
Meanwhile, Kanagy got out of another jam in the third for the Cavs and left two TU runners aboard. In the bottom of the fourth, Tusculum put the first two runners on when Carreras led off with a walk and to second on a Samuelson single. Reliever Ryan Whitson took over the Cavs and recorded back-to-back strikeouts and second baseman Jeb Hurst snagged a liner off the bat of Reyes to keep the deficit at one run.
UVA Wise broke through in the top of the fifth inning as Weaver led off with a walk and moved to third on Matt Frye's double. Tyler Gorbett bounced a single an infield single over Carreras at third base to bring home Weaver with the tying run. With runners at first and second, Hurst moved them up a base with his bunt. Nick Badgett drove home the go-ahead run with his fly out to deep right field.
In the bottom of the fifth, TU mounted a two-out rally as Scartz singled and moved to second when Flood reached on an error. Whitson would get Carreras to line out to center for the final out of the inning and preserve the 2-1 lead.
In the sixth, Weaver blasted a two-run shot over the left field wall to extend the lead to 4-1. With David Kelliher on the mound for UVA Wise, Tusculum got two runners on with two outs in the bottom of the sixth. But Kelliher would strike out Keener looking to send the game to the seventh.
UVA Wise tacked on one run in the top of the seventh as the Cavaliers loaded the bases thanks to a single, a walk and a TU fielding error. Senior closer Seth Willis limited the damage with a ground out and a strikeout.
Tusculum got the lead-off batter aboard as Wilson extended his hitting streak to 13 in a row with his seventh double of 2024. He moved to third on a ground out and scored on Flood's ground out to trim the deficit to 5-2. But reliever Spencer Powell, who took over in the seventh, got a strikeout to end the game.
Whitson (1-1) picked up the victory as he pitched two shutout innings where he allowed one hit and struck out two.
Anders (3-2) suffered the loss as he went six innings, allowed five hits, five runs, four earned, three walks and two strikeouts.
Flood went 0-for-4 in the game to end his 18-game hitting streak, which is the 13th longest in recorded school history. Scartz extended his streak of reaching base safely to 19 games in a row, while Keener and Reyes moved their on-base streaks to 18 and 15 consecutive games, respectively.
Saturday, Tusculum recognized the senior members of the team in pre-game ceremonies including: Luke Absher, Corey Binion, Darien Farley, Murphy Flood, Trejen Fox-Birdwell, Zane Keener, Blaze McCauley, Jake McKenna, Jonathan Nelson, Billy Quinn, Kayl Ratliff, Luis Reyes, Brady Salyards, Will Samuelson, Ben Scartz, Max Schmarder, Jayden Singleton, Patrick Usher, Seth Willis and Zach Wilson.
