Forest City, N.C.----The top-seeded and fourth-ranked Tusculum College Pioneers plated five runs in the first inning and never looked back, notching a 15-1 victory over the fourth-seeded Bulldogs of Wingate University on day three of the Food Lion SAC Tournament at McNair Field. The Pioneers improve to 42-7 overall, advancing to championship Sunday in the SAC Tournament. Wingate falls to 30-22, and will take on the winner of Saturday’s Catawba-Carson-Newman contest Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
 
Tripper Crissom was three-for-four with three RBI to lead the Tusculum attack. Heath Comerford added a double and three RBI, while Cade Stallings was four-for-five with two doubles, an RBI and three runs scored. Matt Henriksen and Carlos Santana each had two RBI and three runs scored for the Pioneers.
 
Redshirt junior first baseman Brian Yeung (Raleigh, N.C.) homered to lead the Wingate attack. Freshman catcher Josh Clark (Clemmons, N.C.) was two-for-three for the Bulldogs.
 
The Pioneers plated five runs in the first on just two hits. A hit batsman and two walks loaded the bases with two outs. Henriksen drew a bases-loaded walk to plate the first run, while a two-run double from Santana made it 3-0. Comerford added a two-run double to push the lead to five.
 
A wild pitch and sacrifice fly in the top of the third gave the Pioneers a 7-0 lead. Tusculum added five more runs in the sixth to push the lead to 12. Alexi Colon was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, while Henriksen’s RBI double made it 9-0. Another bases-loaded walk made it a 10-run game, while a two-run single from Crisson made it 12-0.
 
Stallings ripped an RBI double to left center to push the lead to 13 in the top of the ninth. A wild pitch plated the 14th run of the day, while Cody Coffman’s RBI double made it 15-0.
 
Wingate avoided the shutout in the bottom of the ninth when Yeung connected on his 15th homer of the year, a solo shot to left to make the final margin 15-1.
 
Adam Sigmon got the win, improving to 7-1. He went the distance, allowing one run on seven hits, striking out seven and walking just one. Senior right-hander Justin Nygard (Wilson, N.C.) took the loss, allowing seven runs on four hits in 2 2/3 innings of work, walking five to fall to 3-5 on the year.