NEWBERRY, S.C. --- The Tusculum University softball team split its South Atlantic Conference regular season finale with Newberry on Saturday, April 20.
With two series left to play across the league on Sunday, the Pioneers have clinched sole possession of fifth place in the upcoming South Atlantic Conference Championship.
Tusculum (27-20, 15-9 SAC) has one final tuneup before the tournament begins next weekend, hosting Belmont Abbey on Monday (Apr. 22) for a 1 p.m. doubleheader.
Game 1: Tusculum 6, Newberry 2
Abby Hunter cued up her first career home run as part of the Pioneers' 12 hits in the opener.
Brooke Smith led off the twinbill by racing out an infield single. She stole second and advanced to third on an Ellie Alvarez groundout. Claire Smeltzer singled to the shortstop, allowing Smith to score. Gabi Nicholson laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Smeltzer up a bag. Emily Sappington knocked in Smeltzer with her RBI single.
TU added on in the third. Smeltzer singled and, with two outs, advanced to third on a Sappington single. She scored on the next play, a Sammy Jimenez fielder's choice.
Newberry closed the gap to one after three-straight base knocks in the bottom of the third.
Hunter led off the sixth inning with her first collegiate homer. With two outs, Smith was hit by a pitch, followed by an Alvarez single in which both advanced an extra bag. Smith scored on a fielding error by Newberry and Alvarez was thrown out at the plate for third out.
Tusculum added an insurance run in the seventh. Sappington reached on an error with Caylen Conrad entering as the pinch runner. Jimenez laid down a sacrifice bunt, followed by a Hunter single to put runners on the corners. Makayla Bush hit her first career single to score Conrad, as her previous six collegiate hits were all for extra bases.
Emily Sappington (12-5) went the distance, surrendering two runs (one earned) on six hits with four walks and 11 strikeouts.
Game 2: Newberry 9, Tusculum 0 (5 innings)
The Wolves rebounded to salvage a split behind the near-perfect pitching of Olivia Chestnut.
The lone blemish to Chestnut's statline was hitting Danielle Jason with a pitch as the game's leadoff batter, striking out the Pioneers eight times in her five innings of work.
The Wolves scored one run in the second and four in both the third and fourth innings, highlighted by a pair of two-run homers by Vanessa Wilson.
Ireland Cavanaugh (9-11) tossed the first 2.2 frames as five runs scored on seven hits. Natalie Spaitis entered in relief for 0.2 frames, allowing four runs to score on four hits with a walk. Keylon Reynolds pitched the final 0.2 innings, relenting just one walk.
