Saturday, April 14, 2007

TUSCULUM SOFTBALL SPLITS AT PRESBYTERIAN, PIONEERS CLINCH WINNING SEASON

CLINTON, S.C. --- The Tusculum College softball team split a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader at Presbyterian College Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers won game one 4-2, while the Lady Blue Hose claimed the second game, 4-2. With the victory, Tusculum (27-22, 4-10 SAC) clinches a winning season under first-year skipper Fred Gillum.

Tusculum will wrap up the regular season on Monday with a non-conference twin-bill at Lincoln Memorial University.

Game 1: Tusculum 4, Presbyterian 2

Presbyterian struck first in game one, plating a run in the bottom of the second.

The lead would not last long as Tusculum scored four over the next three innings to claim the victory.

Three of the four runs came off long balls as Chrissy Wilkison (Lake Forest, Calif.) hit a two-run shot in the top of the fourth followed by a solo home run by Jenica Fernandez (Phoenix, Ariz.) in the top of the fifth.

Tusculum out-hit the Lady Blue Hose 9-8 in the game one win with Anna Johnson (Jonesborough, Tenn.) ending the game as the only Pioneer with multiple hits. Johnson was 3- for-4 with a double in the game.

Senior shortstop Rachel Bailey (Howard, Ohio) led the way for PC in the contest, going 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI. Bailey acquired PC's second run of the game in the bottom of the seventh inning when she singled in Jenny Box (Fruitland Park, Fla.), who had arrived on base via an infield single.

Box was the only other Lady Blue Hose softball player in game one to pick up more than one hit. Box was 2-for-3 from the plate in the game.

Kassie Killion (Coolidge, Ariz.) recorded the win in relief as she tossed 3.2 innings from the circle for TC. PC's Mary Gordon (Vernon, Conn.) was the losing pitcher in the contest, pitching the final five innings in relief of senior and starter Megan Wheelus (Florence, S.C.). Gordon (14-6) fanned three in the loss.

Game 2: Presbyterian 4, Tusculum 2

The LadyBlue Hose only had two hits in the game two win, but Erin Stewart (Marion, S.C.) provided Presbyterian all the offense it would need in the game two victory, hitting a two-out grand slam off TC starter Megan DuBois (Chino, Calif.) in the bottom of the fourth inning. The home run was Stewart's fifth of the 2007 campaign.

The Lady Blue Hose jammed the bases for Stewart due to three Tusculum errors in the inning.

Kellyn Henderson (Simpsonville, S.C.) recorded PC's only other hit in game two.

Fernandez was the only Pioneer with multiple hits in the loss, going 2-for-3 from the plate in the game two loss for TC.

Paige Cassady (15-7) won her third consecutive decision in relief of Wheelus in game two. Cassady pitched the final six innings of the game, striking out five and allowing no runs in six innings pitched.

Tusculum's DuBois suffered the loss despite giving up only two hits.

- TC -