GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University baseball team wraps up its longest homestand the season then open South Atlantic Conference play on the road as the Pioneers play four games this week.
Tusculum will cap an eight-game homestand on Tuesday when they host 26th-ranked Young Harris College at Pioneer Park. TU will hit the road this weekend for a three-game SAC series at Queens University of Charlotte.
The Pioneers (7-3, 0-0 SAC) are coming off an impressive three-game weekend sweep of defending East Coast Conference Champion Molloy College. The Pioneers are 5-2 during the homestand while facing nationally-ranked opponents in No. 29 Molloy and No. 36 Illinois Springfield.
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Sophomore outfielder Zane Keener is off to a hot start to the season where he is the team leader with his .417 batting average (10th in SAC). He has totaled 15 hits including two doubles, one triple and three home runs (T6th in SAC). His team-leading 14 runs batted in are tied for sixth in the league.
Will Samuelson is batting .389 while Murphy Flood is posting a .368 average including last weekend where he went 6-of-8 against Molloy.
Third baseman Christian Ortega has a .355 average with 11 hits including two home runs and seven RBI. First baseman Luis Ezra leads the team with 13 runs scored (T11th in SAC) while hitting .316 with a dozen hits including a team-leading four doubles to go along with two home runs and six RBI.
On the mound, graduate student Harbor Jefferson is off to a sizzling 3-0 start. He leads the SAC with his 0.52 earned run average while posting 16 strikeouts and hasn't walked a batter this season in his 17.1 innings on the bump (6th in SAC).
Gunner Becker has a 1-1 record with a 4.91 ERA in his 11 innings where he has posted a dozen strikeouts in his three starts.
Reliever Justin Parker is 1-1 with a sterling 1.08 ERA in his 8.1 innings out of the bullpen. He has one save in his team-leading four appearances where he has eight strikeouts against two walks. Drew Sliwinski is also 1-1 with a 2.79 ERA and one save.
The Tusculum pitching staff has a 4.02 ERA with 85 strikeouts in 85 innings on the mound as the Pioneers have won five of its last six outings.
SCOUTING YOUNG HARRIS
The Young Harris Mountain Lions come to Greeneville for the first of two meetings between the Southeast Region foes.
YHC (6-4) opened the season with a three-game sweep over Union University (Tenn.) and followed by taking two of three in a weekend set with Mississippi College. The Mountain Lions posted an impressive mid-week win at No. 17 Lee University last Wednesday, but were swept in a three-game weekend series with visiting Southern Indiana.
Young Harris is ranked 26th in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Division II Poll after posting a 23-18 record in 2021 and finished third in the Peach Belt Conference.
Shortstop Noah Fitzgerald leads the YHC offense where he is batting .379 with three doubles, two home runs and 10 RBI. Rome Wallace is second on the roster with his .310 average while first baseman Ethan Underwood is third batting .306 with 11 hits including a team-leading three home runs.
The Mountain Lions are very active on the base paths where they are 22-of-26 in stolen bases led by outfielder Logan Worley's five thefts.
The pitching trio of Nate Lamb, Chad Brown and Mason Herbert have been getting the weekend starts for the Mountain Lions, while McLain Harris has two saves and hasn't allowed a run in his four appearances spanning nine innings on the mound.
SCOUTING QUEENS
Queens University of Charlotte enters this week with a 5-6 overall record and have dropped four of their last five games including a weekend series loss at North Georgia.
The Royals have played four extra-inning contests already this season going 3-1 in those affairs. Queens opened the season taking two of three games at Flagler and won two of its next three with victories against Erskine and Lander.
Prior to hosting Tusculum this weekend, the Royals will be hosting Erskine on Wednesday.
The duo of outfielder Nick Brassington and infielder Nick Melton enter the week with identical .396 batting averages as both are 19-of-48 at the plate to start the season. Brassington leads the Royals with his four home runs and 12 RBI, while Melton has a SAC-leading seven doubles. Outfielder Carter Foster is batting .317 with 13 hits and nine runs scored.
Six different pitchers have earned a start for the Royals this year with Justin Offschanka and Kei Yamagishi getting three starts apiece. Offschanka has a 5.54 ERA and has not had a decision yet.
Nick Charleston has appeared in a team-high five games with one start and has a 1.00 ERA in his 18 innings where he is 2-1 with a team-leading 18 strikeouts and his limiting opponents to a .179 batting average.
SERIES HISTORY
Young Harris: Tuesday will be the 14th meeting between the Pioneers and Mountain Lions. TU leads the series 11-2 including an 11-inning win in last year's lone meeting.
Queens: Tusculum leads the series 6-1 including a 3-1 weekend series win last year at Pioneer Park.
FOLLOW THE GAMES
Tusculum will be providing live statistics for Tuesday's home game with Young Harris at www.TusculumStats.com and also on www.TusculumPioneers.com. There will be a video stream of Tuesday's home game (with no commentary) on the SAC Digital Network and at www.TusculumPioneers.com.
Queens University of Charlotte will be providing live stats and of this weekend's series on their web site. Links to live stats and video are also available on the Tusculum web site as well.
TICKETS
Admission for Tusculum home baseball games is $5 for all entrants and children 12 and under will be admitted free. Tusculum students and faculty & staff will be admitted free and a valid Tusculum ID is required. Fans may also purchase tickets online in advance through HomeTown Ticketing at www.TusculumPioneers.com/information/tickets.
Spectators using HomeTown Ticketing can choose to print tickets at home or use mobile entry tickets at the gate.
