GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University softball team pushed its winning streak to five after sweeping Mars Hill on Saturday's (Apr. 6) Senior Day. The Pioneers run-ruled the Lions in both contests.
Tusculum (20-17, 10-6 SAC) travels to UVA Wise for a rescheduled SAC doubleheader on Monday, April 8. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m.
Game 1: Tusculum 8, Mars Hill 0 (5 innings)
Danielle Jason went 3-for-4 with three runs scored, while Claire Smeltzer doubled twice for three RBI. The Pioneers scored in four-of-five innings to run-rule the Lions.
Jason singled to start off the bottom of the first for TU. Smeltzer reached on a catcher's interference. Gabi Nicholson followed with a single to center, plating Jason.
Abby Hunter walked with one out in the second. Jason outran her bunt for a single, ahead of a double steal to put both runners in scoring position. Hunter scored on Brooke Smith's groundout. Smeltzer and Nicholson notched back-to-back hits to score the second and third runs of the frame.
The Pioneers scored twice in the third inning. The first three batters reached to load the bases with no outs: Ellie Alvarez (double), Emily Sappington (walk), and Maddie McBride (single). Hunter singled up the middle, plating Alvarez. Kylie Darrow, running for Sappington, scored on Jason's groundout.
TU's two runs in the fifth enforced the run-rule. With two outs, Hunter legged out an infield single and stole second. Jason singled to put runners on the corners. Smith drew a walk to load the bases. Senior Smeltzer doubled down the left field line to score Hunter and Jason, ending the game.
Emily Sappington (7-5) pitched her second-straight shutout. The senior tossed all five innings, allowing just one hit, while striking out 10, her fifth double-digit strikeout total of the season.
Game 2: Tusculum 9, Mars Hill 1 (6 innings)
Sammy Jimenez broke the program's single season home run record with the 12th of her sophomore campaign as the Pioneers poured on 16 hits in the victory.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning when Jimenez overtook the homer mark. Alvarez followed with a double and McBride singled to advance her to third. Alyssa Barbrick recorded the first sacrifice fly of her collegiate career, plating Alvarez. Jason moved McBride to second on a single, with the latter scoring on Smith's single through the right side.
Mars Hill scored its only run of the afternoon in the fifth inning of game two. A two-out double plated an earlier walk.
Tusculum got the run back in the bottom half of the frame. Nicholson led off the inning with a single and Darrow entered to run. Jimenez laid down a sacrifice bunt to move her to second. Alvarez ricocheted a ball off of the shortstop for a double, scoring Darrow.
The Pioneers plated five in the sixth to bring the run-rule into effect. With one out, Jason notched her first career home run, sprinting for an inside the park hit. Smith wound up at second with two errors by the shortstop. Smeltzer singled to put runners at the corners. Nicholson doubled down the left field line to clear the bases. Alvarez blasted a two-run homer to five Tusculum an eight-run advantage and the series.
Senior Ireland Cavanaugh (8-8) picked up the game two win, her fourth in a row. She pitched five innings, allowing one run on four hits with four walks and a season-high six strikeouts. Sappington (Sv., 3) earned her third save of the season, pitching one inning, relenting two hits while striking out a pair.
