GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum's Daulton Martin had a Senior Day for the ages as he went 7-for-9 which included four home runs and 14 RBI as the Pioneers swept a South Atlantic Conference baseball doubleheader over Limestone Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Park.
In the opener, Martin went 4-for-4 with a triple, two home runs and a TU single-game record nine RBI as the Pioneers won 18-8 in five innings. In the second game, Martin went 3-for-5 including his 10th and 11th home runs of the year and tacked on five RBI in a 19-6 win over the Saints in seven innings.
Martin's second home run of the day, a grand slam in the third inning of Saturday's opener, not only tied the single-game RBI record (9), but it also made him Tusculum's all-time career leader with 187 RBI, surpassing All-America catcher Sean Cotten's mark of 186 he established from 2008-2011. Martin's 14 RBI day gives him 192 for his career.
Bryson Ford also etched his name in the Tusculum record book, becoming the program's all-time leader in stolen bases. Ford tied Josh Wolff's (2003-2006) stolen base mark of 51 in the first game and broke the record in the second game. He would add three more to move his career stolen base tally to 55.
With the sweep, Tusculum (27-9, 23-7 SAC) clinches the No. 2 seed in next week's Pilot Flying J South Atlantic Conference Baseball Championship in Kodak, Tennessee.
Game 1: No. 11 Tusculum 18, Limestone 8
Martin went 4-for-4, scored four runs and drove in a school record nine RBI as the Pioneers opened the weekend series with an 18-8 win over Limestone.
Tusculum overcame an early 2-0 deficit as the Pioneers used a nine-run, first inning which included seven hits including two by Martin alone in the frame. Fuzzy Furr added a pair of hits and scored three times.
The Saints accounted for 10 hits in the game including a 3-for-3 effort by Josh Evans, while Trace Whetsell and Benjamin Huber had two hits apiece including his two-run homer in the first inning to spot the visitors to a 2-0 lead.
Tusculum sent 14 batters to the dish in the bottom of the inning as Luis Ezra drove in a pair of runs with his base hit and Martin belted a bases-loaded triple to highlight the nine-run frame.
Limestone scored twice in the top of the second inning, but Tusculum responded with three tallies in the bottom of the frame including a two-run homer by Martin to center field as the Pioneers extended the lead to 12-4.
The Saints scored twice in the third on back-to-back RBI doubles from Alex Cornell and Brian Forbes to make it a 12-6 contest. But the Pioneers blew the game open with six runs in the third including Martin's grand slam to right field. His nine RBI performance equals the school record posted by former Tusculum catcher Ryan Priest against Stonehill in 1999. The nine RBI are tied for the second-most in SAC history.
Tusculum starter Gunner Becker posted his fourth complete game of the year as he improves his record to 7-2.
Game 2: No. 11 Tusculum 19, Limestone 6
Martin recorded five RBI while senior Trey Hinton went 4-for-4 including his first career home run as the Pioneers defeated Limestone in the second game, 19-6. TU finished the game with 18 hits including four-hit performances by Hinton and Murphy Flood. Martin posted three hits including his 10th and 11th home runs of the season, while Chase Wullenweber chalked up a pair of doubles.
The Saints tallied 10 hits in back-to-back games as Huber led the way again with his 3-for-4 effort, while Cornell belted his seventh homer of the year.
Tusculum scored three runs in the first inning thanks to a RBI double from Daalen Adderley and a two-out RBI single by Flood. TU scored four times in the second inning as Hinton led off with an opposite field blast to left field. Wullenweber followed with a double and Martin crushed his third homer of the day, a two-run blast to right field. Ford was hit by a pitch and he stole second base for his record-breaking 52nd of his career. He then stole third and scored on the throwing error to a 7-0 Tusculum advantage.
TU scored four times in the third frame as the Pioneers recorded five more hits including a three-run homer by Martin as the lead swelled to 11-0.
Limestone cracked the scoring column in the fourth inning on Cornell's three-run homer down the right field line to trim the deficit to 11-3. TU added two runs in the fifth inning before Limestone plated three in the sixth thanks to RBI doubles from Huber and Forbes.
Tusculum capped the scoring with six runs in the bottom of the sixth including Flood's inside the park grand slam.
TU starting pitcher Nick Flesher remained undefeated on the season (4-0) as he went 5.2 innings, allowed nine hits, six runs, one walk and four strikeouts. Jonathan Nelson came aboard and retired four of the five batters he would face, including two strikeouts.
The two teams will conclude the weekend series on Sunday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Pioneer Park.
