Kaytlin Stroinski threw a three-hit shutout for her first career victory as Tusculum College salvaged a split of their South Atlantic Conference softball doubleheader with Catawba College with a 1-0 victory in game two Saturday afternoon at Red Edmonds Field.

The Indians (26-13, 6-3 SAC) captured the opener over the Pioneers (26-15, 9-3 SAC) with a 4-0 victory as Brittany Murray tossed a two-hitter.

Tusculum will be back home Monday afternoon with a non-conference doubleheader against Erskine beginning at 2 p.m. at Red Edmonds Field.

Game 1: Catawba 4, Tusculum 0
(Box Score)

Murray (11-7) allowed just two hits, a bloop single by Ashley Bagley in the third and a single by Paige Sneed with two outs in the seventh, and struck out five.

Mollie Kovalcin gave Murray all the support she would need in the second inning with a solo home run to left off Pioneer starter Elizabeth Johnson. The Indians added three runs in the fifth to go ahead 4-0, and finished with 10 hits as a team in the game.

"Everything goes back to hitting. We didn't do a good job of it in the first game, but you have to give credit to Murray," said Pioneer head coach Fred Gillum. "They scored the runs they needed and came away with the victory."

Johnson escaped trouble in the first and third innings, but fell behind 1-0 when Kovalcin hit a 2-2 pitch over the fence in left for her second homer of the season with two outs in the second.

Bagley's hit in the third represented the only baserunner for the Pioneers until the fourth, when Tusculum put runners at first and second with two outs. However, Murray retired the side on a popup to preserve the 1-0 lead for Catawba.

The Indians tacked on three runs in the fifth on a back-to-back RBI doubles by Sydney Hyder and Tara Gibbs and an RBI single by Kelsey Burgess.

Seven of the Indians 10 hits in the game were for extra bases, including six doubles. Hyder went 3-for-4 with two doubles and Amanda Terry added a pair of two-base hits.

Johnson (22-9) gave up four runs on 10 hits while striking out two and walking one for the Pioneers.

Game 2: Tusculum 1, Catawba 0
(Box Score)

Stroinski (1-3) did not let a 53-minute rain delay after the third inning affect her performance, as she worked around hits in the first, fourth and sixth innings and struck out four to pick up her first collegiate win.

"There were smiles on everyone's face after getting that kind of outing from Kaytlin," Gillum said. "And we had more quality at-bats in that game than we did in the first game. Hopefully we can build on that."

Tusculum scored the only run of the game in the bottom of the second inning on back-to-back doubles by Katie Brennan and Sneed with two outs. The Pioneers' other hit came in the third inning on a two-out single by Alix Kruel.

After the rain delay, Stroinski gave up a one-out double to Burgess but retired the side on a ground out and a strikeout. The Indians' final baserunner came in the sixth on a one-out single by Gibbs, but Kruel started a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. Stroinski then set down Catawba in order in the seventh to finish off the shutout.

Emily B. Huneycutt was the hard-luck loser for the Indians, after giving up three hits and one run in six innings of work.