The Tusculum College softball team split a non-conference doubleheader Sunday afternoon at Pfeiffer University, dropping the opener 4-1 to the host Falcons before pulling out a 5-4 victory in the nightcap to salvage the split.

The Pioneers (11-13) return home to face North Greenville University in a non-conference twinbill on Monday starting at 2 p.m. at Red Edmonds Field.

Game 1: Pfeiffer 4, Tusculum 1
(Box Score)

The Falcons had six baserunners in the game, all coming in the fourth inning when they scored four runs on three hits, two hit batsmen and a walk to erase a 1-0 deficit.

Sam Jarmusch (3-4) allowed seven hits and one unearned run for the Falcons, but worked out of jams in the third, fifth and seventh innings to earn the win. The Pioneers' Kelly King (8-6) retired the side in five of her six innings but gave up RBI singles to Julie Bullington and Celia Dew during the fourth-inning outburst.

Tusculum jumped to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as Carolyn Williamson and Miranda Beeler reached on back-to-back singles. After a fielder's choice and a fly out, Beeler scored on a passed ball for the game's first run. The Pioneers threatened in the third when Alix Kruel led off with a single and Beeler reached on an error, but Jarmusch retired the side on a pair of comebackers to keep the deficit at 1-0.

Kinig retired the first 10 Falcons before Sadie Saine walked with one out in the fourth and Rachel Crowder followed with a single. After a strikeout, Bullington and Dew delivered back-to-back RBI singles to give Pfeiffer a 2-1 lead. The Falcons added runs when Rebecca Foil was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and on a wild pitch by King that enabled Dew to score the fourth run of the inning.

The Pioneers mounted a two-out rally in the fifth on back-to-back two-out singles from Beeler and Tavi Parris, but an infield popup brought the inning to an end. Trailing 4-1 entering the seventh, Tusculum put two runners on base as Nicole Ball hit a leadoff single and Beeler reached on a two-out error. However, Jarmusch induced another infield popup to end the game.

Beeler was the only player on either team with more than one hit in the game, going 2-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base. King struck out two and threw just 78 pitches in her 13th complete game in as many starts.

Game 2: Tusculum 5, Pfeiffer 4 (8 innings)
(Box Score)

The Pioneers snapped a 2-2 tie with three runs in the top of the eighth inning, then held on as the Falcons came back with two runs in the bottom of the frame before Tusculum starter Eliza Davis retired the side for her first career victory.

Beeler scored the go-ahead run on a throwing error in the eighth, and Parris and Paige Sneed followed with RBI singles to give the Pioneers a 5-2 lead. An RBI single by Saine and a run-scoring single from Lindsey Russell cut the Tusculum lead to 5-4, but Davis (1-3) got Bullington on a grounder to Ball at third for the final out.

Tusculum finished the game with a 10-8 advantage in hits over Pfeiffer, including three singles and two RBIs from Parris and two hits each by Kaytlin Stroinski and Sneed. Saine and Jaclyn Boever each had two hits in the game for the Falcons, who had four doubles among their eight hits off Davis.

Just as they did in the opener, the Pioneers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on three consecutive singles by Williamson, Stroinski and Parris off starter Sydney Poole. The Falcons responded with a run in their half of the first on back-to-back doubles by Hannah Jackson and Saine.

Pfeiffer added an unearned run in the fourth when Crowder reached on an error and pinch-runner Lexie Brock scored on a two-out single by Dew for a 2-1 Falcons lead. Tusculum quickly answered with the tying run in the top of the fifth as Sneed led off with a double, and Ball drove home pinch-runner Katie Brennan with a sacrifice fly to left.

The Pioneers nearly grabbed the lead in the sixth and seventh innings, but had runners thrown out at the plate in both frames to keep the score tied. Beeler, Stroinski and Parris singled with one out in the sixth, but Beeler was retired on a force out at the plate and Sneed flied out to end the inning. In the seventh, Brooke Rhodes led off with a double and took third on a sacrifice, but Kruel's fly ball to center was turned into a double play at the plate to keep the game knotted at 2-2.

Tusculum's eighth-inning outburst against reliever Jessica Griffin (1-2) started when Beeler reached on a fielder's choice, then came all the way around to score on a throwing error by Griffin on a grounder by Williamson. Parris drove home Williamson with a bunt single and Sneed plated Stroinski with a two-out single to center for a 5-2 Pioneer lead. In the last of the eighth, Saine doubled home Emily Workman with one out and scored on a two-out single by Russell to cap the scoring.

Davis allowed eight hits and struck out five in her second complete game of the season for the Pioneers, while Poole gave up eight hits and two earned runs while striking out a pair for the Falcons.