The Tusculum College softball team finished the 2012 regular
season with a split of its non-conference doubleheader with King
College Sunday afternoon at Red Edmonds Field.
The Pioneers (30-23) won the opener 3-2 after scoring the
tiebreaking run in the bottom of the fifth inning, while the
Tornado (28-17) captured the nightcap 8-2 after building a 5-0 lead
after 3 1/2 innings.
Tusculum will host the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference
Tournament at Red Edmonds Field beginning Thursday. The Pioneers,
seeded fifth in the tournament, will play fourth-seeded
Carson-Newman in the opening game on Thursday at 10:30 a.m.
Prior to Sunday's game, the Pioneers honored seniors Ashley Bagley,
Ashley Burke, Katy Stuckwish, Lindsay Bridges, Alesha Buckner and
Savannah Ewing along with student assistant coach Neill
Blakeney.
Game 1: Tusculum 3, King
2
(Box Score)
Stuckwish scored the eventual winning run on a groundout in the
fifth inning, and Elizabeth Johnson picked up her 25th win of the
season to lead the Pioneers to victory in the opener.
Johnson (25-11) allowed six hits and one earned run, striking out
three and walking two over 126 pitches for the Pioneers. She
outdueled Tornado starter Rachael Wilmoth (12-8), who surrendered
six hits and three runs in six innings while throwing just 70
pitches.
The Pioneers broke a 0-0 tie in the fourth with a pair of runs.
Katie Brennan delivered a one-out triple to drive home Burke with
the first run of the game, and Lindsey Umberger followed with an
RBI single for a 2-0 Tusculum lead.
King came back with two runs in the fifth, the first coming on a
squeeze bunt by Hannah Light. A two-out infield single by Christina
Melcher brought home the tying run, but the Pioneers were able to
throw out the go-ahead run attempting to score on a wild pitch to
end the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth, Stuckwish reached on an infield single
and moved to second on a throwing error. A sacrifice bunt moved her
to third, and Stuckwish scored on a grounder to short by Katie
Gross to give the Pioneers a 3-2 lead.
The Tornado put a runner on base in each of the last two innings,
but Johnson was able to set down the side without allowing the
tying run to reach scoring position.
Stroinski reached base twice for the Pioneers on a single and a
walk, while Stephanie Rodriguez led the Tornado by going 2-for-3
with a run scored.
Game 2: King 8, Tusculum
2
(Box Score)
Light (15-4) allowed four hits and struck out nine, while the
Tornado finished with 11 hits as a team. Melcher drove in three
runs, Cassie Ringstaff went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and
Rodriguez and Aubree Hutt each scored twice for King.
Stroinski (2-9) started for the Pioneers and gave up seven hits and
five runs (four earned) in four innings of work. She struck out two
and issued four walks.
The Tornado jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first on an RBI double by
Melcher and an RBI single by Fallon Thomas. King scored twice more
in the second on a sacrifice fly by Melcher and a throwing error to
take a 4-0 lead.
King added a run in the fourth on an RBI single by Melcher to go on
to 5-0, before the Pioneers broke through with a run in the bottom
of the inning. Gross led off with a single and came home on an
infield single by Burke.
In the fifth, the Tornado added a run off Johnson on an RBI infield
single by Mackenzie Draine, and tallied two unearned runs in the
seventh off Buckner on an two-run single by Cora Milliken.
Tusculum closed out the scoring in the bottom of the seventh when
Burke scored on a fielder's choice grounder by Bagley. Burke went
2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored to account for half of the
Pioneers' four hits.