GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Sean Cotten hit two home runs in the opener, including a walk-off solo blast to lead the Tusculum College baseball team to a South Atlantic Conference sweep over visiting Newberry College Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Park.
Tusculum (23-13, 10-8 SAC) tallied 30 runs and 41 hits on the day as the Pioneers won by scores of 12-11 and 18-3 to record their eighth and ninth consecutive victories. With the wins, the Pioneers complete the three-game weekend sweep over Newberry (12-24, 1-17 SAC).
Senior Nate Grabowski went 7-for-10 with four RBI in the twin-bill, while senior Sean Finucane also recorded seven hits on the day, including four doubles.
Game 1: Tusculum 12, Newberry 11
In the opener, Tusculum jumped out to an 11-3 lead, but Newberry rallied with five runs in the seven inning and three more in the ninth to tie the game. Cotten led off the ninth with a walk-off homer to send the Pioneers to a 12-11 victory.
Cotten went 3-for-5 with three RBI and Grabowski posted a 4-for-6 effort as the Pioneers accounted for 23 hits in the contest. Paul Finger, Finucane and Cotten posted three hits each, while Eric Barclay, Jared Richmond, Payden Houser, Rolondo Bonner and Matt Henriksen added two hits apiece as all nine offensive starters finished with at least two hits in the game.
Newberry finished with 13 hits in the contest as Jovan Rohena, Sanchez Gartman, Jim Pollack, Derek Bley and Andy Vogel added two hits each.
Tusculum plated the first run of the game in the second inning as Bonner reached on a two-out single and later scored on a Henriksen double, his fifth of the year.
Newberry answered in the top of the third with a pair of runs. Vogel led off with a base hit and later scored on a two-out single off the bat of Jose Rosa. Rosa would cross the plate with the go-ahead run on Rohena's double down the left field line.
The Pioneers sent 10 batters to bat in the fourth as TC scored six runs on six hits, including a two-run single by Richmond and a two-run double from Finucane as Tusculum led 7-2.
After Newberry scored a run in the sixth, Tusculum answered with four of its own in the bottom of the frame, including a two-run homer by Cotten.
The Scarlet and Gray wouldn't go away as Newberry batted around in the seventh as it took advantage of five hits, two hit batsmen and an error to pull within three runs (11-8). Michael Morin drove in the first run of the inning with a RBI hit up the middle. Rohena and Gartman came through with RBI singles, while Love closed out the scoring with a two-out, two-run hit.
Tusculum loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh, but Newberry reliever Gary Hersey got Houser to ground out into an inning-ending double play. The Scarlet and Gray loaded the bases themselves in the eighth inning, but TC reliever Cory Stites got out of the jam with a strikeout and a fly out.
In the top of the ninth, the first four Newberry batters reached on a pair of singles and two walks, including a run-scoring single by Vogel. Morin recorded the first out of the inning on a grounder that brought in Chris Love to cut the deficit to 11-10. After an intentional walk to pinch-hitter Keke Wadsworth, Rosa drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home the tying run. TC reliever Cy Young came aboard to face Rohena, inducing him to hit into a double-play to keep the score tied at 11-11 and setting the table for Cotten's walk-off heroics.
Young picked up his first win of the season (1-0) and he threw only three pitches to get the victory as the Pioneers left 14 runners on base.
Game 2: Tusculum 18, Newberry 3
Tusculum scored 10 runs in the second inning as the Pioneers sent 14 batters to the plate in an 18-3 win to complete the series sweep.
Finucane went 4-for-5 with four RBI, while Grabowski added a 3-for-4 effort as Tusculum finished the game with 18 hits and nine walks. Richmond and Finucane tallied two doubles each, while Grabowski clubbed his fifth home run of the year.
Rosa led Newberry offensively with his 3-for-3 performance, while Gartman, Pollack and Vogel each recorded a double in the loss.
Newberry scored a pair of runs in the first inning, both coming thanks to Pollack's double to left field.
The Pioneers responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning thanks to a RBI double by Richmond and a two-run home run by Grabowski that was hit down the right field line. Newberry tied the game at 3-3 when Rosa laid down a two-out, full-count bunt single to score Vogel from third.
But in the bottom of the second inning, the Pioneers used seven hits and four walks to take a 13-3 advantage.
Tusculum starter Craig Goodman improved to 3-1 as he went six innings, scattered eight hits, allowed three runs, walked to and struck out six.
Richmond extends his team-best 17-game hitting streak, while Grabowski and Houser have hit safely in their last 12 games each.
The Pioneers return to action on Tuesday night as they host Stillman College for a 7 p.m. contest at Pioneer Park.
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