GAFFNEY, S.C. --- It took a combined 22 innings, but the Tusculum University baseball team won a pair of extra-inning thrillers to sweep Saturday's South Atlantic Conference doubleheader over host Limestone University at FCU Founders Stadium.
Tusculum scored five times in the top of the 14th inning and closer Seth Willis gutted out a 119-pitch performance as the Pioneers rallied to a 13-9 victory in the opener.
TU overcame a 3-0 deficit in the night cap as the Pioneers scored a run in the sixth and another in the seventh to force extra innings. Tusculum took advantage of a pair of Limestone errors in the top of the eight to score three times en route to a 6-3 win.
Tusculum (25-24, 18-12 SAC) wins the weekend series 2-1 and ends the regular season in a four-way tie for third place in the final conference standings. The tournament seeds of the 2024 SAC Baseball Tournament will be announced by the league office later this weekend. The SAC Tournament will be held at the home site of the top two seeds for next weekend's first round games. The winners of the two, four-team double-elimination pods will advance to the SAC Championship series in two weeks in Asheboro, North Carolina.
Game 1: Tusculum 13, Limestone 9 (14 innings)
The Pioneers erupted for five runs in the top of 14th inning sparked by Flood's two-run single as Tusculum outlasted Limestone 13-9 in Saturday's first game.
Tusculum closer Seth Willis gutted out 6.2 innings in relief as he struck out seven in his 119-pitch performance to improve to 5-3 on the season.
Flood went 4-for-7 with four RBI and Will Samuelson went 3-for-5 including his team-leading sixth homer run of the year as TU finished with 16 hits. Tusculum also got two-hit games from Omar Carreras, Zach Wilson and Blaze McCauley.
The Saints accounted for 20 hits as Noah Love went 4-for-7 and Wyatt Stone added a 3-for-6 outing. The Limestone quintet of Sion Barnette, Benny Partridge, Davis Turner, Gavin Troyer and Winstone Parke all had two hits apiece.
Limestone scored the first run of the game in the opening frame as Barnette and Partridge led off with back-to-back singles and Love drove in the first run with his RBI single. Tusculum tied it in the second inning on Jake Absher's solo homer to left field.
The Saints regained the lead on Parke's two-run homer to left field as Limestone went up 3-1. TU took its first lead of the day in the fifth thanks consecutive doubles from Samuelson, McCauley and Zane Keener, followed by a two-out single from Flood as TU went ahead 4-3.
The Pioneers tacked on two more runs in the sixth and another in the seventh to make it a 7-3 game. Samuelson hit a two-run homer in the sixth and Flood drove in TU's seventh run with his RBI double.
But the Saints erupted for a four-run seventh to tie the game at 7-7. LU sent nine batters to the plate and got a pinch-hit, two-run single from Zachary O'Malley and a RBI hit from Davis Turner.
In the bottom of the eighth, Limestone had two runners on base with one out as Willis, who threw two innings in Friday's 11-inning loss to the Saints, took over on the mound for the Pioneers. He would get a pair of fly outs to end the threat in the eighth.
Limestone had the momentum and mounted threats in the ninth and 10th innings. But Willis was there as he posted two strikeouts in the ninth and two more to close out the 10th.
Tusculum broke through in the top of the 11th when Keener was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame. Luis Reyes reached moved him to second on his sacrifice bunt that was misplayed, allowing Reyes to get aboard as well. After a pair of fly outs, Omar Carreres singled up the middle to score Keener as the Pioneers led 8-7.
But in the bottom of the 11th, Love answered with a two-out double to drive in the tying run. Love would be stranded there as Flood hauled in a line drive to right by Troyer to extend the game.
Both teams threatened in the 12th and 13th innings, but TU broke open the marathon with a five-run 14th. The Pioneers loaded the bases with one out thanks to an error and back-to-back walks. Keener would be hit by a pitch for a second time in the game and force in the go-ahead run. Reyes hit a grounder to third as the Saints got the force out at home for the second out. Flood answered the call with his two-run single and Ben Scartz and Carreras followed with RBI singles for a 13-8 Tusculum lead.
Willis, who eclipsed the 100-pitch threshold back in the 12th, worked around a pair of singles in the 14th allowing one run and got back-to-back ground outs to end the game.
Willis allowed two runs on seven hits, with four walks and seven strikeouts to improve to 5-3 on the year. Wade Vinesett (0-1) suffered the loss for the Saints who would be eliminated from SAC postseason consideration.
Keener got on base six times in eight plate appearances in Saturday's first game as he tallied three walks, was hit by a pitch twice, along with his team-leading 13th double.
Game 2: Tusculum 6, Limestone 3 (8 innings)
Tusculum overcame a late two-run deficit without the benefit of a base hit and erupted for three runs in the eighth as the Pioneers won the rubber-match game 6-3 over Limestone to claim the series.
The Tusculum bullpen pitched four shutout innings to close out the contest as Jake McKenna (3-0) worked around a walk and a single to strand the winning run at third base in the seventh. After TU took the lead in the top of the eighth, Luke Maicon took over and overcame a lead-off single and recorded three straight fly outs to post his first save of 2024.
The Saints (23-25, 14-16 SAC) took a 2-0 lead in the first inning as Perry Dyer reached on a catcher's interference and later scored on Giuseppe Seidita's RBI double. The second run of the inning scored on Hunter Blair's RBI ground out. Limestone made it 3-0 as Seidita reached on a one-out error, moved to third base on Blair's double and scored on a wild pitch. TU starting pitcher Luke Absher ended the inning with a pair of flyouts and retired the side in order in the fourth.
In the top of the fourth, the Pioneers got on the scoreboard a Carreras led off with a single and moved to second on an error. He would score TU's first run of the game on Jake Absher's RBI single.
Pitcher Corey Binion retired the Saints in order in the fifth and Trejen Fox-Birdwell did the same in the sixth.
Meanwhile, Carreras and Jake Absher drew consecutive walks to start the TU sixth. A bunt by pinch-hitter Darien Farley moved the Carreras and Absher into scoring position. Connor Jurek drove in Carreras with his sacrifice fly and trim the deficit to 3-2.
In the top of the seventh, Reyes led off with a walk and then stole second. After Flood struck out, Reyes would steal third. Kayl Ratliff would hit a sacrifice fly to center field to drive in Reyes with the tying run.
With McKenna on the mound to start the seventh, Ned Kough led off with a walk. Cody Costa replaced him at first base when he grounded in a fielder's choice. After a fly out, Evan Havreluk singled with two outs to put runners on the corners. With a full count, McKenna ended the inning by striking out O'Malley to send the teams to extra innings for a third straight game.
The Pioneers started the top of the eighth with a pair of outs. Jurek would extend the inning with his base hit and moved to second on a wild pitch. Max Schmarder reached on a two-out throwing error which allowed Jurek to score from second with the go-ahead run. A walk to Keener, his second of the game and fifth of the day, moved Schmarder up a base. Reyes would leg out an infield single to drive in the speedy Schmarder from second base with the inning's second run. Keener would score from second when Flood reached on the second error of the inning.
Keener, who reached base safely nine times on the day, extended his on-base streak to 26 games in a row, tying TU Hall of Famer Chad Busch (1996) with the seventh-longest run in program history. Keener also posted another milestone when he recorded his 100th career walk, becoming only the sixth Pioneer to achieve the feat. His 102 bases on balls are tied for fifth in the TU record book.
