GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University baseball team returns home for four games this week at Pioneer Park.
The Pioneers will entertain cross-mountain rival Mars Hill for a mid-week, non-conference game on Wednesday before hosting arch-rival Carson-Newman for a big three-game South Atlantic Conference series over the weekend.
Tusculum (14-20, 4-11 SAC) went 1-4 last week in its five out of conference games including going 1-2 at West Georgia over the weekend. Of last week's five games, three went into extra innings making it six extra frame contests this year so far, which are tied for the second-most in recorded program history.
The Pioneers continue to play one of the toughest schedules in the land as TU has the second most difficult slate of games in NCAA Division II. Tusculum past and future opponents have a .626 winning percentage (892-533). TU has played 15 games against nationally-ranked teams so far while posting a 7-8 record in those outings.
Tusculum is in 10th place in the league standings with nine conference games remaining down the stretch. Following this weekend's series with Carson-Newman, TU will host defending national champion Wingate next weekend before closing out the regular season at defending SAC champion Catawba.
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Preseason All-SAC outfielder Zane Keener returned to the line-up last week and went 6-of-14 (.429) at the plate including a double, a home run and three RBI. The sophomore is batting .321 on the season where he leads the team with six homers and 27 RBI. He has also drawn 12 walks and has been hit by a pitch eight times.
Will Samuelson continues to be solid at the dish and enters this week riding an eight-game hitting streak. He is batting .313 on the year where he has amassed 31 total hits including seven doubles. In Saturday's doubleheader at West Georgia, Samuelson went 4-for-8 with a pair of doubles.
Outfielder Ryan Dos Santos has a .311 average in his 25 games, which has included 15 starts. He has 19 total hits with five doubles, 10 walks and three stolen bases.
Senior Wes Reynolds is hitting .301 and is tied for the team lead with 34 hits with seven doubles, five home runs and 23 RBI. He is also the club leader with six stolen bases in as many attempts.
Outfielder Tyler Ranel owns the top batting average on the roster at .407 in his 12 games where he has 11 hits with a pair of home runs and nine RBI.
Justin Parker has been seeing most of the action on the mound for the Pioneers this season. Parker has made a team-high 14 relief appearances where he has pitched in 35.1 innings. He has a 3-3 record with a 2.29 earned run average with one save and has posted 29 strikeouts against eight walks.
Gage Newsom has a 2-0 record in 12 appearances out of the TU bullpen where he has a 2.75 ERA with 19.2 innings of work. Jacob Willett (0-1) also has a 2.75 ERA with one save in his 11 appearances and has limited the opposition to a meager .143 batting average. Drew Sliwinski has appeared in 12 games with one start where he is 1-3 with a 3.52 ERA and is second on the team with 29 strikeouts.
Gunner Becker and Sam Loew have been getting most of the starts of late for the Pioneers. Becker nine starts and a 1-3 record with a 6.62 ERA. He has pitched in 35.1 innings with 34 strikeouts. Loew has a 2-1 record and a 4.56 ERA in his eight appearances with five starts. He has recorded 21 strikeouts against six walks in his 25.2 innings on the mound.
Harbor Jefferson has returned to the TU line-up after missing two weekend starts. He is 3-4 with a 5.35 ERA and has walked five while striking out 26. Tyler Harmon has been seeing extended time on the bump for the Pioneers of late where he has made five appearances with three starts. Harmon is 1-0 with a 2.19 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 12.1 innings.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Mars Hill: The Mars Hill Lions enter this week with a 14-21 overall record and are in ninth place in the SAC standings. The Lions have lost five straight games including last weekend's home series with Lenoir-Rhyne.
This will be the 91st record meeting between the Pioneers and Mars Hill. In a series which began in 1911, TU owns a 60-30 advantage including winning three of the four encounters last year. Tusculum and Mars Hill will square off again next week at Henderson Field.
Carson-Newman: The Carson-Newman Eagles will come to Pioneer Park this week riding some momentum and a six-game winning streak enter the week. C-N will host Shorter on Wednesday before making the short trip to Greeneville.
The Eagles are 22-15 overall and 7-7 in league play which is eighth in the conference standings. Carson-Newman is coming off a 5-0 week where the Eagles swept Limestone in a three-game SAC series while posting mid-week victories over DePauw and Alabama Huntsville.
The Pioneers and Eagles have met on the diamond 197 previous times in series which began in 1904. C-N owns a 115-80-1 edge in the series, but the Pioneers have won seven of the last 10 meetings with their East Tennessee rivals including last month's 9-5 victory in Jefferson City.
The home team has not done well recently. Tusculum is 7-2 in its last nine visits to Carson-Newman, but the Eagles have won six in a row at Pioneer Park with TU's last home win against C-N coming Mar. 1, 2015.
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. NO CASH PAYMENTS for game tickets will be accepted at the stadium.
FOLLOW THE GAMES
Live statistics will be provided for all games this week at www.TusculumPioneers.com. There will be a video stream for all TU home games available on the Tusculum Athletic web site.
