Greeneville, Tenn.----Tusculum College used a pair of fifth-inning rallies to sweep Wingate University in South Atlantic Conference softball action Saturday afternoon at Red Edmonds Field. The Pioneers scored four times in the fifth to take game one 4-1. TC plated five runs in the fifth of game two en route to a 6-0 victory.

The Pioneers (21-8 overall, 2-0 SAC) entered the day having lost 22 straight meetings with the Bulldogs (17-8 overall, 0-2 SAC) since a 2-1 victory on April 7, 2001. With the triumph in game one, the Pioneers not only snapped the losing streak, they gave head coach Fred Gillum his 100th victory at Tusculum.

The Pioneers, who are 11-1 at home with 10 straight victories, host Lincoln Memorial University Tuesday at 2 p.m. in a SAC doubleheader. The Bulldogs step out of the league fray to host Coker College Sunday at 2 p.m.

Game #1
Tusculum 4, Wingate 1

Trailing 1-0 entering the bottom of the fifth and with only one hit off Bulldog senior starter Allison Smith, the Pioneers rallied for four runs on three hits to grab the lead and go on to a 4-1 victory.

Wingate took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth on an RBI single by Kasey Pendley, but Tusculum knotted the score as Katy Stuckwish led off with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice and scored on a single by Paige Sneed.

With two outs, Tusculum’s Taylor MacDonald walked and Savannah Ewing followed with a double to left-center to drive home pinch-runner Ashley Bagley and MacDonald for a 3-1 Pioneer lead. Ewing then stole third and scored on a wild pitch by Smith to give Tusculum a 4-1 lead.

Pioneer starter Erin Searcy (9-6 overall) allowed five hits and issued two walks against the Bulldogs Saturday. Searcy struck out seven in a 127-pitch performance. She stranded runners at first and second in both the first and fourth innings and left a runner at second in each of the last two innings.

Smith (10-3 overall) yielded four earned runs on four hits and three walks and struck out six over six innings for Wingate. The only hit she allowed over the first four innings was a two-out single in the first by Lindsey Umberger. Bulldog freshman Hayley Whitley was the lone player for either team with more than one hit in the contest, as she went two-for-three at the plate.

Game #2
Tusculum 6, Wingate 0

A two-out error in the bottom of the fifth led to five runs for the Pioneers and a sweep of the doubleheader, as Elizabeth Johnson improved to 11-2 overall by throwing a six-hitter and striking out a pair for her third shutout of the season.

Johnson and Wingate freshman Ashley Brown were locked in a pitchers’ duel through 4 1/2 innings. Brown easily dispatched of the first two hitters in the Tusculum half of the fifth; however, a grounder to third by MacDonald was bobbled to give the Pioneers an opening and they took advantage.

On the next pitch, Ewing doubled to deep left-center to chase home MacDonald with the game’s first run. After Umberger walked, Ashley Burke singled up the middle to bring home Ewing and give the Pioneers a 2-0 lead. Brown departed the circle in favor of Wingate senior All-SAC hurler Brittany Blankenship.

Shanda Kimbrough greeted Blankenship with a triple over the head of the Bulldog center fielder to knock in Umberger and Burke for a 4-0 advantage. Stuckwish capped the inning with a single to right which drove home Kimbrough and gave Tusculum a 5-0 lead.

The Pioneers added another run in the sixth as Bagley singled with one out, moved to second on a single by MacDonald and scored on a two-out single by Umberger for a 6-0 lead.

Johnson (whose earned run average dropped to 0.94) was the beneficiary of several fine defensive plays by the Pioneers. MacDonald caught a liner at second and doubled off a Wingate runner to end the first, Kimbrough nailed a runner at the plate on a grounder to first in the third and Ewing started a ground-ball double play at third to finish off the sixth.

MacDonald and Ewing each finished two-for-four with a run scored for the Pioneers, who held a 9-6 advantage in hits over the Bulldogs. Six different players accounted for Wingate’s six hits in the contest.

Brown (4-3 overall) gave up four hits and four runs (all unearned) in 4 2/3 innings with three walks and two strikeouts. Blankenship was tagged for two earned runs on five hits in 1 1/3 innings of relief.

(Special thanks to Tusculum College assistant SID Jim Miller for providing this story.)