GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Zane Keener went 3-for-6 with three RBI including his team-leading third home run of the season in leading Tusculum University to an 11-3 win over 29th-ranked Molloy College Sunday afternoon at Pioneer Park.
The Pioneers (7-3) sweep the weekend series over the Lions while recording their fourth consecutive victory. Of TU's seven wins this season, five have come against nationally-ranked opposition. It was also the Pioneers' first-ever three-game sweep over a ranked foe in program history.
Tusculum recorded 14 hits on the afternoon, including Murphy Flood's 3-for-4 performance while Luis Ezra, Will Samuelson and Ryan Dos Santos posted two hits each as the Pioneers scored over 10 runs for a fourth time this young season.
Drew Sliwinski (1-1) tossed 3.2 shutout innings out of the bullpen to pick up the victory. The trio of Gage Newsom, Drew Miller and Tyler Smith kept the Lions off the board for the final three innings.
Molloy (0-3) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning, sending eight batters to the plate as Gavin McAlonie and Garrett Scavelli recorded run-scoring hits. Tusculum tied the game in the bottom of the inning on Zane Keener's two-out, two-run single in driving in Will Samuelson and Dos Santos who reached on singles earlier in the inning.
The Lions broke the tie in the third as Thomas Brady singled and later scored on a bases loaded walk to Chris Einemann for a 3-2 Molloy lead.
The score would remain that way until the bottom of the fifth when the Pioneers plated three runs including a bases loaded walk to Britten Robinson and a Wes Reynolds sacrifice fly.
TU scored three times in the sixth as Keener led off with a solo blast to right field while Ezra and Flood came through with RBI singles as TU increased its advantage to 8-3. The Pioneers tacked on three more runs in the eighth frame which was highlighted by Robinson's two-run single.
The two teams combined for 23 runners left on base (TU 12, MC 11) as both squads were issued seven walks apiece.
Tusculum will wrap-up its season-long eight-game homestand on Tuesday when they host nationally-ranked Young Harris College for a 4 p.m. contest at Pioneer Park. It will be the final non-conference outing prior to next weekend's South Atlantic Conference opening series at Queens University of Charlotte.
