SALISBURY, N.C. --- Tusculum College split its South Atlantic Conference doubleheader with host Catawba College Saturday afternoon, with the Indians capturing the opener 3-0 and the Pioneers earning a 2-0 victory in the nightcap.
Elizabeth Johnson threw her second consecutive shutout to salvage the split for Tusculum (28-13, 9-5 SAC) after Emily Huneycutt tossed a five-hitter in game one for Catawba (26-16, 9-5 SAC).
The Pioneers, who are tied for third place in the SAC standings with four regular-season games remaining, travel to Mars Hill Wednesday at 2 p.m. for a conference doubleheader. The Indians are on the road Wednesday afternoon at league-leading Lenoir-Rhyne.
Game 1: Catawba 3, Tusculum 0
(Box Score)
Huneycutt (14-7) struck out four and walked one while throwing 106 pitches in the victory for the Indians, while Kayla Myers and Khourtni Hester hit solo home runs as part of a 10-hit attack.
Catawba scored twice in the second off Tusculum starter Erin Searcy (12-10) as Hester led off the inning with her ninth home run of the season. With two outs, the Indians tacked on a second run as Amanda Terry doubled home Casey Baucom.
In the fifth, Myers hit the first pitch of the inning by Searcy over the fence in center field for her sixth home run of the year and a 3-0 Catawba lead. The Pioneers had a baserunner in each of the last two innings but could not pull off the rally.
Searcy struck out three and did not issue a walk while throwing 92 pitches over six innings for Tusculum. Shanda Kimbrough led the Pioneer offensive attack by going 3-for-3 with a double, while Taylor MacDonald accounted for Tusculum's other two hits with a pair of singles. Carly Sabat finished 3-for-3 to lead the Indians at the plate, with Myers finishing 2-for-3.
Game 2: Tusculum 2, Catawba 0
(Box Score)
For the second time in three days, Johnson (15-3) tossed a shutout to help the Pioneers avoid a doubleheader sweep. She scattered five hits and struck out one in her 16th complete game and sixth shutout in 20 starts this season.
The Pioneers finished with just four hits off Indian starter Brittany Murray, but bunched together three hits and took advantage of two Catawba errors in the fourth inning to score a pair of runs. Kimbrough reached on an error to lead off the inning, and came home on an RBI single by Paige Sneed. After a single by Katy Stuckwish, MacDonald followed with an infield hit to drive home Sneed and push the Tusculum lead to 2-0.
Johnson set down six straight Catawba batters on just 14 pitches over the fourth and fifth innings, but ran into trouble in the sixth as the Indians put runners on second and third with two outs. However, Johnson escaped the jam by getting a fly ball to center for the third out, then retired the side in the seventh to finish off the win.
Alli Justice was the lone player to record more than one hit in the contest for either team, going 2-for-3 with two doubles for Catawba. Murray (12-9) struck out four and walked two over 117 pitches for the Indians.
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