GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Zane Keener hit a three-run home run and drove in four runs as Tusculum University defeated Lee University 11-5 in non-conference baseball action Tuesday evening at Pioneer Park.
Tyler Ranel and Ryan Dos Santos each went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and Wes Reynolds delivered a two-run double for insurance as the Pioneers (12-14) built a 7-0 lead after four innings, but saw the Flames (12-15) rally within 7-5 in the seventh before Tusculum put the game out of reach with four runs in the bottom of the eighth.
Jaden Steagall walked twice and scored three runs for the Pioneers, who stole five bases as a team including a pair of double steals. Tusculum outhit Lee 10-6 while five Pioneer pitchers combined to strike out 12 Flames batters. Keener walked twice and scored two runs out of the leadoff spot for the Pioneers.
Tyler Harmon (1-0) earned the win with three scoreless innings of work in his first start of the season for Tusculum. Harmon struck out four and allowed one hit, while Brady Salyards and Justin Parker combined to strike out four in 2 1/3 innings to close the game after Lee pulled within 7-5 with three runs in the sixth and two in the seventh.
Nate Bynum and Thomas Zazzaro each went 2-for-5 with a run scored for Lee, while Cam Suto launched a three-run home run in the sixth to put the Flames on the scoreboard. Lee used nine pitchers, with five of them allowing at least one run.
Tusculum opened the scoring in the second inning off reliever Tim Gooden (0-2) as Christian Ortega and Will Samuelson led off with singles, followed by an RBI single from Ranel, who was making his first career start, for a 1-0 Pioneer lead. After Steagall walked with one out to load the bases, Blaze McCauley grounded out to second to drive home Samuelson with Tusculum's second run. Lee then brought in lefty Sean Casteel to face the left-handed batting Keener, who spoiled the strategy by launching his fifth home run of the season to right field on a 1-2 pitch to push the Pioneers to a 5-0 lead.
The Pioneers added two runs in the fourth off Brycen Jewell as Ryan Dos Santos led off with a double and Steagall was hit by a pitch. After a double steal put the runners in scoring position, Keener knocked in a run on a groundout and Rudy Fernandez delivered an RBI single to stretch the Tusculum lead to 7-0.
Lee broke through in the sixth against Tusculum reliever Corey Binion, who came on in the fourth for Harmon and retired the side in both the fourth and fifth innings. Dylan Standifer led off with a single and Matthew Batts walked on a 3-2 pitch to bring up Suto, who drilled an 0-2 pitch off the scoreboard in left-center field for his third homer of the season to cut the Tusculum lead to 7-3.
The Flames tacked on two more runs in the seventh on an RBI triple by Zazzaro and a sacrifice fly by Standifer, but Salyards came on to strike out Suto with a runner on base to end the inning. Salyards would follow with two strikeouts in a perfect eighth inning as Tusculum carried a 7-5 lead into the home half of the frame.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Pioneers used three hits and three walks to plate four insurance runs off three pitchers. Ranel and Dos Santos hit back-to-back singles with one out and pulled off a double steal, followed by a walk to Steagall to load the bases. McCauley delivered an RBI groundout with the bases loaded for the second time in the game to give Tusculum an 8-5 lead, and Dos Santos would score on a wild pitch from Alan Zhang Carter to stretch the Pioneer lead to 9-5. Reynolds capped the rally with a bloop double to shallow right that drove home Steagall and Keener and put the Pioneers into double figures in runs in a game for the first time since Feb. 20 against Molloy.
Tuesday's game was the first of two meetings this season between the Pioneers and the Flames. The teams will play the return matchup next Tuesday, March 29 at Lee, beginning at 6 p.m. Tusculum will open a three-game South Atlantic Conference series on the road against Coker beginning Friday, March 25 at 6 p.m.
