GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum College finished off its 2011 regular season with a non-conference doubleheader sweep of North Greenville University Monday afternoon at Red Edmonds Field. The Pioneers won the opener 4-0 behind a three-hitter from Erin Searcy and took game two 3-0 as Elizabeth Johnson tossed a four-hitter.
Tusculum (32-15) will face Wingate in the opening round of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament Wednesday at 9 a.m. at Carson-Newman College. The Pioneers are the fourth seed in the eight-team tournament while the Bulldogs are seeded fifth. The Crusaders dropped to 15-22 with the losses.
Game 1: Tusculum 4, North Greenville 0
(Box Score)
Searcy (14-11) threw her sixth shutout of the season, striking out five and walking three while throwing just 91 pitches over seven innings. She worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the second and saw the tying run thrown out at the plate to end the fifth inning.
Tusculum left the bases loaded in the first, second and fourth innings and stranded 12 runners in the contest, but broke through with a run in the third and added three more in the sixth for insurance.
Ashley Burke had a two-run triple as part of the sixth-inning rally for the Pioneers, while Katy Stuckwish went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Shanda Kimbrough walked three times in four trips to the plate and scored a run, and Taylor MacDonald also reached three times on two walks and a hit.
The Pioneers broke through with a run in the bottom of the third off Crusader starter Taylor Roof. Kimbrough led off with a walk, Stuckwish followed with a one-out single and an error loaded the bases for Paige Sneed, who successfully executed a squeeze bunt to drive in Kimbrough for a 1-0 lead.
The Crusaders nearly tied the game in the fifth, as Marielena Santos singled with two outs and reached second on an error. Kim Robertson followed with a single up the middle, but centerfielder Katie Brennan threw out Santos at the plate for the final out.
In the sixth, Tusculum added three insurance runs against Robertson, who came on in relief of Roof in the fourth. MacDonald led off with a single and took second on a sacrifice, and Lindsey Umberger followed with a walk. With two outs, Burke lined a 3-2 pitch over the head of Santos in center to drive in MacDonald and Umberger for a 3-0 lead. Stuckwish followed with a single to left to knock in Burke with the game's final run.
In the seventh, Searcy issued a leadoff walk but induced a double-play grounder starter by Umberger at short to end the game.
Roof (8-11) walked five and allowed an unearned run on two hits in three innings for North Greenville, while Robertson gave up three earned runs on four hits and three walks in three innings of relief.
Game 2: Tusculum 3, North Greenville 0
(Box Score)
Johnson improved her record to 17-4 with her seventh shutout of the season. She issued a pair of walks and struck out five, throwing 96 pitches.
Roof started game two for the Crusaders and allowed just four hits, but two squeeze bunts in the sixth inning allowed a pair of unearned runs to score after Tusculum had taken a 1-0 lead in the fifth.
The Pioneers mounted their first rally of the game in the third, loading the bases with two outs before Roof got a fly out to end the threat. Meanwhile, Johnson set down 12 of 13 batters she faced from the second through the fifth inning.
In the fifth, the Pioneers scored the game's first run as Sneed led off with a single, moved up on two groundouts and scored when Savannah Ewing looped a single that landed directly on the chalk line behind third base.
The Pioneers tacked on two more runs in the sixth, with Burke starting the rally by reaching second on a double error with one out. A single by Stuckwish led to runners on second and third for Brennan, who dropped a bunt in front of the plate and Burke eluded the tag to score for a 2-0 Tusculum lead. Sneed followed with her second squeeze bunt of the day to bring home Stuckwish for a 3-0 advantage.
North Greenville's Kelsey Burgess opened the seventh with a double to left-center, but she was stranded as Johnson retired the next three hitters on two grounders to short and a strikeout.
Sneed was the hitting standout in game two for the Pioneers, going 2-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI. Ewing contributed in all three of her plate appearances, drawing a walk and laying down a sacrifice bunt in addition to her run-scoring single.
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