Tusculum College remained the lone unbeaten softball team within the South Atlantic Conference as the Pioneers swept a doubleheader at Brevard College Sunday afternoon, winning by scores of 2-1 and 7-5.

The Pioneers (25-12, 8-0 SAC) have won six consecutive games overall and nine of their last 10, and are off to their best league start since joining the conference in 2000. The Tornados dropped to 14-18 overall and 3-7 in the SAC with the losses.

Game 1: Tusculum 2, Brevard 1
(Box Score)

The Pioneers won the opener despite finishing with just three hits off Tornados starter Kayla Clemens (9-10). Two of the hits came in the third inning, when Tusculum took a 1-0 lead as Katie Gross doubled with one out and scored on a single by Savannah Ewing.

Tusculum added a run in the fourth without benefit of a hit, as Kaytlin Stroinski led off with a walk, stole second and took third on an error, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Katie Brennan for a 2-0 lead.

After leaving the bases loaded in the first and two on in the second, Brevard finally broke through in the fourth against Pioneer starter Elizabeth Johnson on a two-out RBI single by Brittany Fowler. However, that would be the last runner to reach base for the Tornados in the game as Johnson retired the final 10 batters she faced for her 21st victory.

"We hit when we needed to in the first game. We pushed a couple runs across early and were able to hang on," said Pioneer head coach Fred Gillum. "It always feels good when you don't play your best and still get a win."

Ashley Burke accounted for the other hit for the Pioneers with a single in the seventh inning, and she also stole a pair of bases. Fowler led the Tornados by going 3-for-4, while Ally Davenport finished 2-for-3 out of the ninth spot in the lineup.

Johnson scattered six hits and struck out three for the Pioneers, needing just 96 pitches to get through the complete-game performance. Clemens was the hard-luck loser for the Tornados, giving up one earned run and striking out nine.

Game 2: Tusculum 7, Brevard 5
(Box Score)

The Pioneers piled up seven runs in the first two innings, then held on for the win as the Tornados chipped away with runs in four straight innings. However, Johnson came through again late for the Pioneers as she set down the side in order in the sixth and seventh to improve to 22-6.

Burke led the Pioneers' 11-hit attack by going 3-for-3 with two runs batted in, Lindsey Umberger was 2-for-4 with two triples and two RBIs, and Stroinski belted a two-run home run as part of a four-run first inning for Tusculum.

Clemens started game two for the Tornados and allowed twice as many hits to the first seven batters (six) as she did in the entire first game. Ewing hit the first pitch for a double, and after a sacrifice Stroinski hammered a two-run homer to center field for a quick 2-0 Tusculum lead.

Umberger followed with a triple and scored on a single by Burke for a 3-0 Pioneer lead, and Brennan doubled home Burke to give Tusculum a 4-0 advantage. After a two-out double by Ashley Bagley, Clemens was relieved by Alyssa Miller who retired the side.

The Pioneers added three runs in the third, a rally started by a one-out walk by Ewing. After a sacrifice and a walk to Stroinski, Umberger tripled home both runners to give the Pioneers a 6-0 lead. Burke followed with an RBI single and Tusculum held a 7-0 advantage.

Brevard began to chip away against Johnson in the bottom of the second, scoring a run on an RBI double by Emily Boykin. A two-run homer by Chelsi Mallory in the third cut the Pioneer lead to 7-3, and an unearned run in the fourth brought the Tornados to within 7-4.

In the fifth, the Tornados put runners on second and third with no outs, but could only score on a sacrifice fly by Brittany Tucker to cut the margin to 7-5. That would be all for Brevard, as Johnson retired the side in the fifth, worked effortlessly through a three-pitch sixth and set down the Tornados in order in the seventh to close out the sweep.

"We came out and hit like we are capable of hitting. We scored seven runs in the first two innings, then we just hung on," said Gillum. "Our defense had some miscues that we normally don't have, but all in all it feels good to be 8-0 in the league. We are very happy to be in that position."

Bagley finished 2-for-4 at the plate for the Pioneers, while Alix Kruel had a productive game with a single, a walk and two sacrifice bunts.

Johnson allowed seven hits and walked three in the win for Tusculum, but struck out three batters and gave up just two unearned runs. Miller worked 6 1/3 innings in relief for the Tornados, allowing five hits and four walks and three earned runs.