GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum's Will Samuelson went 2-for-4 with two RBI while closer Seth Willis pitched two shutout innings to record his fifth save as the Pioneers rallied to a 6-4 South Atlantic Conference victory over visiting Wingate Friday night.
The Pioneers (19-13, 13-6 SAC) capture the series opener over the Bulldogs (19-12, 11-5 SAC) as TU runs its winning streak to four in a row. Tusculum also snapped a four-game losing streak at the hands of Wingate.
All nine Pioneer batters finished with a hit as Tusculum edged the Bulldogs 10-8 in hitting.
Wingate jumped out to a 2-0 lead scoring an unearned run each in the second and fourth innings off of TU starter Drew Sliwinski.
The Pioneers plated a run in the top of the fourth inning as Jake Absher reached on an error and later scored on Avery Collins' two-out single to trim the deficit to 2-1.
The Bulldogs got the run back in the top of the fifth against reliever Caid Sanders. Wingate loaded the bases with three straight singles to start the inning. Brett Adams hit a fly ball to left centerfield which was deep enough to bring in the run from third base, but TU centerfielder Luis Reyes threw out Cam Harris who tagged up and was trying to move to third base to complete the double play. Sanders got a strikeout to end the inning and limit the damage.
Tusculum answered with three runs in the bottom of the fifth as Zach Wilson hit a one-out double. Ben Scartz was hit by a pitch and Omar Carreras drew a walk to load the bases. After a strikeout, Kayl Ratliff drew a walk to drive in the first run of the frame. WU's Jordan Howard took over on the mound to face Will Samuelson who greeted him with a two-run single to put Tusculum on top for the first time at 4-3.
Wingate tied the game in the sixth as Andrew McKay drew a lead-off walk, stole second and moved to third on a ground out. Alex Naylor drove in the game-tying run with his grounder to shortstop as the contest was even at 4-4.
Tusculum retook the lead in the seventh as Absher was hit by a pitch and moved to second on Ratliff's single. Brent Walls took over on the mound and got a flyout, which moved Absher to third. A sharp grounder second by Collins on a drawn-in infield kept the go-ahead run at third base. But a fielding error on Luis Reyes ground ball allowed the go-ahead run to score.
TU added an insurance run in the eighth as Scartz singled, stole second and scored on Absher's two-out single to left field.
Meanwhile, Willis took over for Sanders in the top of the eighth, striking out the first two batters he faced before getting an infield line-out to end the inning. In the ninth he gave up a one-out single to Lane Rhodes, but he would be stranded at first. Willis got a strikeout of Williams-Rhem for the second out and Cam Harris hit a towering fly ball to deep right center, but Reyes was there to record the final out.
Sanders (2-0) picked up the victory in relief as he tossed three innings where he allowed two runs on four hits, one walk and one strikeout. Getting his first start of the 2024, Sliwinski went four innings, allowed three hits, two unearned runs, three walks and three strikeouts. Walls (0-2) was charged with the loss.
Willis recorded three strikeouts in his two innings of work to post his fifth save of year.
Scartz and Absher scored two runs each for the Pioneers while Wingate's Williams-Rhem and Harris accounted for two hits apiece.
The two teams will wrap up the series on Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader.
