GREENEVILLE, Tenn. -- The Railsplitters (18-16, 10-10 SAC) fell back to .500 in South Atlantic Conference play after dropping both games of a doubleheader to the Tusculum Pioneers (21-10, 15-5 SAC) by scores of 14-4 and 7-6 on Monday at Pioneer Park in Greeneville, Tenn.
Game One: Tusculum 14, Lincoln Memorial 4 The Pioneers, who entered Monday's twinbill ranked last in the SAC in batting average with a .264 mark, collected a season-high 14 hits and piled up 11 unanswered runs through their first three plate appearances.
Jim Tolle and Kevin Victoriano put the first two runs of the game on the board with back-to-back run-scoring doubles in the bottom of the first, while Chris Waylock reached on a fielding error that resulted in a run to complete that three-run flurry.
Jeovanny Tolentino extended the Tusculum advantage to 4-0 with an RBI single in the second stanza, but the Pioneers broke the game wide open in the third, scoring seven runs on five hits. Victoriano accounted for the most destructive at-bat of that inning, belting a two-out grand slam. That big fly was preceded by back-to-back bases loaded walks, while John Topoleski kicked off the scoring with an RBI single.
The Railsplitters broke through in the top of the fourth, as
Nick Morabito (Vienna, Va.) doubled and scored on a wild pitch, and
Ryan Burlison (Romeoville, Ill.) walked and scored on a single from
Jean Rodriguez (Caguas, Puerto Rico).
Tusculum erased both of those runs in the bottom of that inning thanks to a two-run double from Andrew Bowerman.
Rodriguez was responsible for the Railsplitters' only other runs of the ballgame, as the Caguas, Puerto Rico native plated two runs with a two-out single in the fifth.
Freshman
Jake Watkins (Powder Springs, Ga.) suffered the loss after allowing three earned runs and four hits in his one-inning stars. Out of the four pitchers to appear in game one for Lincoln Memorial,
Drew Lyles (Cleveland, Tenn.) was the only one to allow fewer than two runs, serving up one run without a hit in an inning of relief.
Rodriguez was 2-for-3 with three RBI, while Morabito and
Eric Kalman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added two hits apiece.
Six different players contributed two hits for the Pioneers, led by Victoriano's 2-for-3 showing with five RBI. Zach Slagle tossed four innings and improved to 3-2, surrendering seven hits and four earned runs in four innings of work.
Game Two: Tusculum 7, Lincoln Memorial 6 The Railsplitters left nine runners stranded on base and came up just a bit short in a winding affair with multiple momentum shifts throughout.
Lincoln Memorial pounced on the Pioneers early, scoring three runs in the top of the first.
Jonathan Lowe (Sidney, Ohio) singled and later scored on a single from
Kyle Floyd (Windsor, Ill.), while both Floyd and Kalman came around to score on a single from Morabito.
The Pioneers trimmed the deficit to 3-1 in the bottom of that inning, as a failed pickoff attempt resulted in a run. Tusculum then took the lead in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly out from Topoleski and a two-run double by Bowerman.
Morabito drew the game back even in the third frame and notched his third RBI of the contest, driving in Floyd with a single into right field. But, Tusculum regained the lead on a two-out fielding error in the home half of the third.
The back-and-forth battle carried into the fourth as run-scoring hits from Floyd and
Logan Augustine (Urbandale, Iowa) pushed the Railsplitters back in front before Tusculum tied it up once more on another costly fielding error in the bottom of that stanza.
The Pioneers took the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth as Waylock singled and later scored on a clutch two-out base knock from Topoleski.
The Railsplitters put the tying run on second base in the top of the sixth, but a strikeout killed off that opportunity. The tying run moved into scoring position again in the seventh frame as
Jacob West (Maryville, Tenn.) singled and reached second on a wild pitch. A fly out and a strikeout ended the game with the tying run still standing 180 feet from home.
Lincoln Memorial committed four errors in the contest, its most in a game since amassing five miscues in the season opener at USC Aiken.
The Railsplitters posted 10 hits, led by Floyd's 3-for-4 showing with three runs and two RBI. Morabito was 2-for-4 with three RBI.
Morabito suffered the loss and fell to 3-2 on the season after relinquishing one earned run and thre hits in 3 2/3 innings of relief. Burlison was flawless in one inning out of the bullpen.
Devan Watts earned the win for the Pioneers with 3 1/3 innings of two-hit, no-run relief. Jeovanny Tolentino led the Pioneers' offensive attack with two hits.
The Railsplitters aim to snap a four-game losing skid on Tuesday when they head to Bristol, Tenn. for a nonconference tilt with the King Tornado. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
