HICKORY, N.C. --- Tusculum College's Jared Richmond hit two home runs on the day to lead the Pioneers to a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader split at Lenoir-Rhyne University Saturday afternoon at Bears Field.
Lenoir-Rhyne (18-22, 9-12 SAC) won the opener 8-4, while the Pioneers (26-15, 11-10 SAC) bounced back in the night-cap to post a 13-3 victory.
Richmond (Fort Smith, Ark.) recorded his 29th and 30th home runs of his TC career, moving him into a tie for first all-time in school history, matching the 30 hit by Shane Banks from 1997-2001.
Game 1: Lenoir-Rhyne 8, Tusculum 4 (Box Score)
L-R freshman designated hitter Colton Hansley (Asheville, N.C.) broke a 1-1 tie with a grand slam in a five-run, fourth inning to lead the Bears to the win.
Tusculum closed the gap to 6-3 with a pair of run-scoring singles by Nate Grabowski (Pennellville, N.Y.) and Sean Finucane (Cortland, N.Y.) in the fifth frame, but couldn't get any closer.
L-R senior first baseman Rob Knight (Sterling Heights, Mich.) and junior catcher Brian Dice (Hickory, N.C.) picked up RBI singles in the eighth inning to round out the scoring for the Bears. Knight finished with three hits and two runs batted in.
Richmond connected on a solo home run in the top of the ninth.
Lenoir-Rhyne junior Brandon Padgett (Statesville, N.C.) allowed three runs over seven innings pitched to improve to 3-4 on the year, while Tusculum starter Taylor Rakes (Norcross, Ga.) fell to 3-2 with the loss.
Bear senior Brian Chandler (Lenoir, N.C.) pitched the final two innings to register his second save of the season.
Game 2: Tusculum 13, Lenoir-Rhyne 3 (Box Score)
Tusculum's Sean Cotten (Mooresville, N.C.) hit a three-run home run and finished with a game-high five runs batted in as the Pioneers won 13-3 in the second game.
Tusculum jumped ahead by a 3-0 score in the top of the third inning highlighted by a two-run homer from Richmond, his team-leading 19th of the season and 30th of his career to tie Banks for the all-time school record.
A two-run double by L-R junior outfielder Stephen Andrews (Winston-Salem, N.C.) cut the margin to 4-3 in the fourth inning, but Tusculum responded with five runs in the fifth inning, which included Cotten's three-run round-tripper.
Cotten added a two-run double in a four-run, sixth inning to make it a 13-3 final for Tusculum, who finished with 15 hits in the contest.
Pioneer starter Craig Goodman (Clearwater, Fla.) improved to 4-1 on the season after going the distance while Bear junior Ben Goldston (Cary, N.C.) fell to 1-4 with the setback.
Richmond and Rolondo Banner (Garner, N.C.) each tallied two hits and two runs batted in, while Grabowski added a game-high three hits for Tusculum.
Grabowski and junior Payden Houser (Lincolnton, N.C.) have each hit safely in their last 17 straight games.
The Pioneers return to the diamond on Tuesday as they travel to Limestone College for a 3 p.m. contest.
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