GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The UVA Wise baseball team scored five runs each in the seventh and eighth innings as the Highland Cavaliers rallied to an 11-8 win over Tusculum Friday in the South Atlantic Conference opener for both teams.
UVA Wise (4-10, 1-0 SAC) overcame a 7-1 deficit by taking advantage of six walks and six hit batters including eight combined free bases in the final three innings.
After starting the season 1-10, the Highland Cavaliers have won their last three games and halted Tusculum's eight-game winning streak.
The Cavs' Jeb Hurst finished the game with four RBI including his three-run homer in the seventh inning to make it a 7-6 game.
Tusculum (8-3, 0-1 SAC) scored a run in the bottom of the seventh on Will Samuelson's RBI single to make it an 8-6 contest.
In the top of the eighth, the Cavaliers sent 11 batters to the plate as UVA Wise plated five runs on three hits, four walks and a hit batter. Hunter Meador led off the inning with a bloop double in right field which landed between three TU players. Meador moved to third on a Justin Reed single as Jonathan Nelson was relieved by Scout Martin. Morgan Miller drew a walk to load the bases and Stanley followed with another walk to bring home the inning's first run.
Jacob Willett took over for Martin on the mound and got the first out of the inning on an infield pop-up. Willett got ahead in the count to lead-off hitter Matt Frye. But Frye was hit on the elbow on a 1-2 pitch to drive in the tying run.
DJ Dickson stepped up and went opposite field with his two-run double to bring in Miller and Stanley for a 10-8 lead. With the infield drawn in, Jeb Hurst drove in Frye with his ground out for an 11-8 lead.
Wise closer Hunter Anderson came aboard and retired the Pioneers in order in the eighth and worked around a two-out single in the ninth to record his second save of the year.
Tusculum jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two innings. Ben Scartz had a sacrifice fly in the first while Rudy Fernandez and Christian Ortega each had RBI hits in the second.
TU starting pitcher Luke Absher worked his way out of a pair of jams in the second and fourth innings to keep it a 3-0 score.
UVA Wise finally broke through in the fifth inning as Miller led off with a walk, moved to second on a passed ball and later score on D'Sean Prinkelton's base hit.
Tusculum erupted for four runs in the sixth inning with the big knock coming on Fernandez' three-run double.
Dickson, Prinkelton and Cole Harness recorded two hits apiece. Fernandez led the Pioneers with his 3-for-3 performance, while Samuelson had two hits in the game.
Ryan Whitson (1-1), who pitched in the seventh inning, recorded the win while Anderson tossed two shutout innings to close out the game.
Martin (0-1) suffered the loss while Absher pitched 6.2 innings where he allowed four runs (3 earned), five hits, two walks and four strikeouts.
The two teams will wrap up the three-game weekend series on Saturday with a 3 p.m. doubleheader.
