FOREST CITY, N.C. --- Wingate University pitchers TJ Rinoski and Tyler Brown combined on a four-hit shutout as the second-seeded Bulldogs defeated No. 5-seed Tusculum College 3-0 Sunday afternoon in an elimination game of the 2014 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament.
Wingate (31-15) will face top-seeded Catawba College in the SAC Tournament championship game on Sunday. Tusculum (28-21) is eliminated while suffering its first shutout in 65 SAC Tournament games.
Rinoski (2-2) did not allow a base runner to reach second base until the fifth inning with a hit batter and a wild pitch. He went 6 1/3 innings, scattering four hits with a pair of walks and three strikeouts.
Tusculum (28-21) mounted scoring threats in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, but left a combined seven runners on base, including the bases loaded in the seventh.
Wingate plated a run in the first inning when Eric Serra reached on an infield single and Thomas Spitz drove him in with a double to left field. Brad Cherry hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead.
WU reliever Tyler Brown pitched the final 2 2/3 innings as he walked two and struck out three to post his third save of the season.
Vinny Ferrara, Trey Drewery, John Topoleski and Scott Gibson accounted for a hit each for the Pioneers.
TC starter Ethan Carpenter (4-1) suffered his first collegiate loss as he went 7 1/3 innings, allowing six hits, three runs, one walk and two strikeouts. Michael Scott relieved Carpenter in the eighth as he tossed 1 2/3 innings of shutout baseball.
Tusculum tied a program single-season record on Sunday with its 62 sacrifice bunt, matching the mark set by the 2012 club.
In Tusculum 65 SAC Tournament contests, the Pioneers have posted an impressive 40-25 record, while qualifying for the SAC postseason all 15 years since becoming a league member.
The Pioneers will close out the regular season next weekend when they host Bluefield State College for a three-game weekend series at Pioneer Park. The series will begin on Saturday with a 6:30 p.m. single game as TC will host its "Pack the Park for Education" night. The series will conclude with a 1 p.m. Sunday doubleheader.
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