GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Anderson took advantage of four walks and two Tusculum errors in the ninth inning to score three times as the Trojans rallied to a 9-7 South Atlantic Conference win over Tusculum Friday night at Pioneer Park.
Anderson (23-23, 11-10 SAC) totaled 14 hits and drew 11 walks as Trojans recorded only their second win in Greeneville in 18 tries and first since March 20, 2010, ending a 13-game road losing streak to the Pioneers (24-21, 10-12 SAC).
Anderson remains in sole possession of sixth place in the league standings and needs to win one of tomorrow's two games with TU to clinch a berth in next week's SAC Tournament. Tusculum is tied for the eighth and final spot for the league postseason with Limestone at 10-12.
The Pioneers still control their postseason destiny as two wins on Saturday would seal a berth. TU could also get in depending upon multiple scenarios involving other teams.
With Tusculum leading 7-6, the first three Trojans reached base against TU closer Jacob Willett thanks to a lead-off walk and back-to-back errors by the Pioneers. Anthony Pandolfi opened with a walk and Brandon Gibbs pinch ran for him. Gibbs would advance to third base when pinch-hitter Jackson Van Ness's bunt was misplayed, placing runners on the corners with no outs. JC LeGrand's fly ball to centerfield was dropped as Gibbs trotted in with tying run while Van Ness and LeGrand moved into scoring position.
Jonathan Nelson got a strike out when Kye Andress bunted foul on an 0-2 count. Carlos Hernandez drew a walk to load the bases. Luke Poole grounded out on a bang-bang play at first, which drove in Van Ness with go-ahead run. Another walk loaded the bases and Justin Fox drew the fourth walk of the inning to drive in LeGrand with an insurance run for a 9-7 lead.
Nick Miller took the mound for his second inning of work as he worked around a Christian Ortega lead-off single as he got a strikeout and a pair of fly outs to end the game and improve to 2-3 on the season.
Ortega went 4-for-4 for the Pioneers including his 100th hit with the Black & Orange. Tyler Ranel went 2-for-4 with two runs scored while Ortega and Murphy Flood accounted for two RBI apiece.
Andress finished the game with three hits, while Poope, Fox and Pandolfi finishing with two hits each as the Trojans left 16 runners on base.
Tusculum moved out to a 2-0 lead as the Pioneers plated two unearned runs in the third inning. Ben Scartz led off reaching on an error and moved to second when Ranel was hit by a pitch. Zane Keener led bunted the runners over and Ortega line a RBI single to left field for the first run of the game. With Ranel at third, he would come into score on a Rudy Fernandez squeeze bunt.
Anderson got a run in the fourth inning as Fox led off with a double and later scored on Andolfi's one-out single. The Trojans scored five times in the fifth inning as AU posted three hits, three walks and a hit batter to take a 6-2 lead. The big hit of the inning came on LeGrand's two-out, two-run single.
Tusculum scored twice in the fifth on Flood's two-run double to make it a 6-4 game. In the bottom of the sixth, Luis Reyes led off with a walk, stole second and scored on Ranel's double to cut the deficit to one (6-5). Keener smoked a liner off the first base bag which allowed him to scoot into second with a double and drive in Ranel with the tying run. Ortega broke the 6-6 deadlock with his one-out single as the Pioneers regained the lead at 7-6.
The Pioneers looked to add more in the seventh when Will Samuelson led off with a double. But he would be picked off at second by pitcher Jackson Herring for the first out of the frame and end the threat.
Tusculum starting pitcher Brady Salyards, who was seeing his first action since being injured last month, went 4.1 innings where he scattered eight hits, allowed two runs, two walks and two strikeouts in his 67-pitch outing.
The two teams will wrap-up the series with a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Pioneer Park on Saturday. It is also Senior Day as Tusculum will honor its 12 seniors prior to Saturday's first game.
