Kelly King threw two complete games to lead Tusculum College to a sweep of its South Atlantic Conference softball doubleheader at Newberry College on Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers (22-20, 8-6 SAC) won the opener 3-2 in nine innings and took the nightcap 2-0 against the Wolves (17-21, 4-10 SAC).

Tusculum is home on Tuesday evening against Mars Hill for a doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m. at Red Edmonds Field.

Game 1: Tusculum 3, Newberry 2 (9 innings)
(Box Score)

After both teams scored single runs in the eighth inning, the Pioneers took the lead for good in the ninth on a sacrifice fly from Katie Brennan. King then retired the side in the bottom of the ninth to preserve the win for the Pioneers. She struck out six and allowed one earned run while needing just 107 pitches to get through nine full innings.

After tying the game in the fourth on an RBI double by Nicole Ball, the Pioneers grabbed the lead in the eighth when Miranda Beeler scored on a passed ball with two outs. The Wolves came back in their half of the eighth on a squeeze bunt by Leah Hosking, but King got an out at the plate on another squeeze attempt to help send the game into the ninth.

In the ninth, Tavi Parris started on second base in the international tiebreak and moved to third on a sacrifice by Ball. Brennan then delivered a sacrifice fly to right to bring home Parris with the go-ahead run, and King navigated the bottom of the inning successfully to bring home the victory for Tusculum.

Newberry struck first in the bottom of the second inning, taking a 1-0 lead when Hailey Drawe hit her fifth home run of the season. Tusculum tied the game in the fourth as Courtney Hutcherson singled with one out and scored all the way from first on a double to the gap by Ball.

The Wolves threatened in the bottom of the fourth as a walk and an error put runners on first and second with nobody out. A single by Casey Nellums loaded the bases with one out, but King got a strikeout and a forceout at the plate on a comebacker to escape the jam.

After the Wolves stranded a runner at second in the sixth, the Pioneers started a rally in the seventh on back-to-back singles by Paige Sneed and Alix Kruel with one out. However, a pair of grounders back to Newberry pitcher Madison Burnett kept the game deadlocked and set up extra innings.

Burnett (5-9) allowed seven hits and one earned run for the Wolves, striking out six and walking two while throwing 149 pitches. Leading the way at the plate for Newberry were Drawe, who added a single to go along with her home run, along with Nellums and Gabby Bedard who each finished 2-for-4.

For the Pioneers, Sneed and Brennan each reached base twice in four trips to the plate, as Brennan tripled and walked and Sneed walked in addition to her hit in the seventh. Tusculum finished with eight runners left on base while Newberry stranded 10 runners.

Game 2: Tusculum 2, Newberry 0
(Box Score)

King (15-9) allowed just one hit, a second-inning infield single to Drawe, and retired 19 of 21 batters on ground balls for her sixth shutout of the season and 23rd complete game in as many starts. She set down 15 batters in a row from the second inning into the seventh and threw a total of 81 pitches in the victory.

The Pioneers scored both of their runs in the top of the sixth inning on an RBI single by Brennan and a bases-loaded walk to Ball by Wolves starter Brittany Middleton (10-8), who gave up two runs on five hits and struck out four while walking two.

Newberry's only threat came in the second inning as Drawe reached on a two-out single to shortstop and moved to second when Nellums was hit by a pitch. However, King retired Lanier Paul on a grounder to short to end the inning.

After both teams went in order in both the third and fourth innings, the Pioneers rallied in the fifth when Parris led off with a double, but a popup and two fly balls kept the game scoreless.

The Pioneers started the winning rally in the sixth as Kruel led off with a single and moved to second on a bunt single by Carolyn Williamson. After a sacrifice, Kaytlin Stroinski walked on a full count to load the bases with one out. Brennan then delivered her second game-winning RBI of the day with a single to left center, and Ball tacked on an insurance run with a four-pitch walk with the sacks jammed to make it a 2-0 game.

Ball finished 1-for-2 with a single and a walk for the Pioneers, while first baseman Sneed set a school single-game record with 19 putouts. The previous mark of 18 putouts was set by Jennifer Zabetakis against St. Andrews on March 3, 2000.