GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University softball team dropped its third-straight series on Friday (Mar. 11) afternoon, falling in a pair of tightly-contested games to Lenoir-Rhyne.

Tusculum (13-12, 0-4 SAC) continues its tough SAC stretch, traveling to top-15 Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday (Mar. 16) for a 1 p.m. start.

Game 1: Lenoir-Rhyne 3, Tusculum 2
The Pioneers came up just short in the opening pitchers' duel despite a two-run sacrifice fly by Hayley Lazo and a pair of stellar double plays by the TU defense. The contest was full of foul balls, with Tusculum sending a resounding 47 pitches out of play.

Both hurlers struck out a pair in the opening frame.

The first stellar field play by Tusculum came in the third. With a runner on first, the Bears attempted a sacrifice bunt, but Lazo had other ideas. She dove and caught the pop before firing a shot to Hannah Hughes, who was covering first, for the double play.

LR got all three of its runs in the fourth. A bases-loaded walk, followed by a two-run double, were all the Bears needed to net the win.

Tusculum scored its runs in a unique way. Kiley Longmire led off with a single down the left field and was pinch run for by Makayla Bush. Mya Maddox hit a one-bagger back up the middle. Angela Masiello laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners 60 feet. Lazo smacked a flyball to deep center field, easily scoring Bush from third. Maddox used her speed, nearly passing Bush, to avoid the tag at home and score the second run.

The Bears managed to load the bases in the seventh, but a clutch strikeout by Emily Sappington ended the threat.

Anna Alloway outran an infield single but her pinch runner Alyssa Suits got no farther than second.

Sappington (6-6) threw yet another complete game, surrendering nine hits, five walks, and three earned runs while striking out seven.

Game 2: Lenoir-Rhyne 5, Tusculum 2
Kallyn Newport tallied half of Tusculum's hits, while LR used its extra-base hits to score.

The Bears continued where they left off. Three-straight hits with two outs plated two in the first frame.

TU also did work with two outs in the second. Alloway drew the opening walks, followed by two consecutive outs. Longmire doubled down the left field line to score the hustling Alloway. Maddox was drilled in the head by an errant pitch to bring up Newport. She hit a shot to left center, trading places with Longmire, to net the final run for the Pioneers.

Lenoir-Rhyne had a two-run homer in the fourth to break the tie, scoring the eventual winning run, while back-to-back doubles added the icing on top.

Ireland Cavanaugh (5-4) had a rough start, only going 3.1 innings. She relented seven hits, four earned runs, three walks, and one homer, striking out a pair. Keylon Reynolds pitched solidly in 3.2 innings in relief. She allowed only one run with three hits and two walks with two strikeouts.