Saturday, March 29, 2008

TUSCULUM, CATAWBA SPLIT SAC SOFTBALL DOUBLEHEADER

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Ashley Basilicato went 3-for-6 on the day with a pair of doubles and a home run as the Tusculum softball team split a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader over Catawba Saturday afternoon at Red Edmonds Field. Tusculum won the opener 4-3, while Catawba rebounded in the second game, winning 8-0 in six innings.

Game 1: Tusculum 4, Catawba 3

Lynnsey Jett singled home the winning run in the fourth inning as the Pioneers posted a 4-3 win over the Lady Indians. Tusculum made the most of its five hits in the game and Megan DuBois recorded a complete-game effort to improve her record to 3-4.

Tusculum jumped out to a 3-0 lead thanks to Basilicato’s three-run homer in the first inning, scoring Rachel Wilburn and Jess Greer.

Catawba tied the game with a run in the second and two more in the third inning. In the second, Ryann Baker scored when she tripled and crossed the plate on a throwing error on the play. In the third frame, Allie Marshall came through with a two-run double to knot the game at 3-3.

Tusculum regained its advantage in the fourth when Shanda Kimbrough singled and moved to second on a throwing error. Another Catawba error placed runners on the corners with one out when Jett singled home Kimbrough and a 4-3 TC lead.

Catawba would try to answer in the fifth as the first two batters would reach with Marshall drawing a walk and Sarah VanBuskirk getting a single. DuBois would get out of the jam with a fly out and a pair of ground outs to end the inning. She would allow one base runner for the rest of the game to seal the victory for the Pioneers.

Wilburn went 2-for-3 in the game for the Pioneers, while Cassie Markham accounted for a 3-for-4 performance for Catawba.

Game 2: Catawba 8, Tusculum 0 (6 innings)

Catawba’s Rachel Christian tossed a three-hit shutout as the Lady Indians recorded 16 hits en route to an 8-0 win in the night-cap in six innings.

Christian improves to 5-6 on the season, while Tusculum starter Holli Cadenhead falls to 5-6 on the year.

Marshall led the Catawba hit-parade with three hits, including a double, while Jessie Whitesides, MacKenzie White, Jacqueline White and VanBuskirk each had multi-hit games for the visitors. Kathryn Geouge accounted for a two-run homer in the fourth to move Catawba out to a 4-0 advantage.

Tusculum returns to action on Sunday when the Pioneers travel to Newberry for a 2 p.m. single-game. TC and Newberry are completing the second half of a league doubleheader, which was halted in the first inning of the second game. Catawba returns home on Sunday when it hosts No. 9 Georgia College & State University for a 2 p.m. doubleheader.

- TC -