CHARLOTTE, N.C. --- The Tusculum University softball team rewrote the program record book on Sunday (Apr. 11) afternoon, courtesy of a 19-6 game one win. The Pioneers finished out their first sweep in nearly a month by grinding out a 7-5 decision.
Tusculum (16-14, 10-8 SAC) finishes out the regular season at home, starting on Wednesday (Apr. 14) at 2 p.m. versus Anderson.
Game 1: Tusculum 19, Queens 6
In total, six individual game records were tied by a combination of three Pioneers, as well as two team marks shattered in the throttling of the Royals.
Anna Alloway tied the at bats (6), hits (5), runs (4), and total bases (12) records, while Hayley Lazo met the mark in home runs (3) and total bases (12). Mya Maddox's two sacrifice bunts tied a game-best as well. As a team, the nine home runs hit crushed the previous high of five and the 49 total bases topped the next best by 14.
As shown, the Pioneers struck early and often in game one and were held scoreless in only the sixth inning.
Alloway led off the afternoon with a single with back-to-back groundouts advancing her to third. Chloe Freischmidt started the homer barrage with a shot over the center field wall. Kiley Longmire followed with a double and was driven in on an Emily Sappington single. Claire Smeltzer and Lazo reached to load the bases, but a fielder's choice ended the threat.
Queens evened up the game with a home run of its own, a three-run shot.
Alloway began the second inning as well and raked a double. Maddox bunted her over, just as she did in the first. Alexis Grampp joined Freischmidt with her own two-run homer.
Lazo stepped with one out in the third and drilled the first home run of her collegiate career, bringing the score to 6-3.
TU tacked on four more runs in the fourth. Grampp and Longmire each singled and stole second, putting a pair of runners in scoring position. Sappington proceeded to launch her first home run in the collegiate ranks. With two outs, Lazo knocked another ball out of the field, her second homer in as many innings.
Alloway teed up her first home run of the day as the lead-off batter in the fifth. The score was now 11-3.
Queens staved off a run-rule ending with a trio of runs in the bottom of the inning, its last of the contest.
The Pioneers racked up three more homers in the top of the seventh, as part of an eight-run inning. Claire Crout drew a walk and Alloway notched her second homer of the day. Grampp launched a solo shot, also her second long-ball of the game. Freischmidt followed with a single and advanced on a wild pitch. Longmire garnered a walk. Sappington knocked a single to left field, scoring Freischmidt. Ashley Harbison pinch hit and, in her first at bat of the season, collected a RBI single to plate the pinch runner Kristen Gass. As is the theme of game one, Lazo came next and sent a third neon ball over the outfield wall.
Sappington (7-6) went five innings in her start, allowing all six runs and hits with four strikeouts. Keylon Reynolds struck out two in her lone frame, followed by the return of Savannah Foster. After hitting her first batter, she struck out the next three looking.
Game 2: Tusculum 7, Queens 5
Game two was the polar opposite of its predecessor. Tusculum scored all seven of its runs within the park.
The nightcap was scoreless until the second as the Pioneers notched three unearned runs. Longmire reached on a fielding error and Sappington singled. Smeltzer hustled out an infield single to load the bases with two outs. Brittney Franse also legged out an infield hit, scoring Longmire. Alloway singled to center, allowing Sappington and Smeltzer to cross the plate.
Queens collected an unearned run in the bottom of the second to get on the board.
Sappington led off the fourth with a double and Angela Masiello was sent in to pinch run. Lazo hustled out a bunt single, moving Masiello over 60 feet. Smeltzer singled to left and Franse followed with a bunt single to load the bases. Maddox grounded out but Lazo was able to sneak by the tag at the plate, giving TU a 5-1 advantage.
The Royals used a two-out, three-run homer to bring the game back to a one-run lead for the Pioneers.
Freischmidt singled and was bunted over by Longmire. Sappington and Freischmidt switched places to stretch the lead back to two. Lazo walked and Franse singled to load the bases with two outs, but no more runs scored.
Using her speed, Maddox raced around the bases to lead off the sixth with a triple. Freischmidt was able to capitalize with an infield single.
Queens got the run back in the bottom of the inning, courtesy of a solo homer. The Royals had two runners on in the seventh with two outs, but Foster preserved the TU sweep with her sixth strikeout in the nightcap.
Reynolds picked up the game two start, going three innings and allowing only one earned run. She also struck out one batter. Madison Michael entered in relief for a frame and relented a pair of runs. Foster (2-0) closed out the nightcap for the win, throwing three innings of one-run, six-strikeout ball.
