GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Dalton Chapman's RBI single plated the game-winning run in the top of the 11th inning to lead UVA Wise to an 8-7 non-conference win over host Tusculum Tuesday night at Pioneer Park.
UVA Wise reliever Mason McAlarnis (1-0) recorded his first win of the season as he pitched three perfect innings with five strikeouts.
The Highland Cavaliers (26-18) avenge last month's 7-5 home loss at the hands of the Pioneers (17-25).
Tusculum third-baseman Max Schmarder went 0-for-5 as he has his school-record 29-game hitting streak halted. It is the first time he went hitless since Feb. 15. He did draw a walk which extends his string of consecutive games reaching base safely to 35 in a row which is listed seventh in the TU record book.
UVA Wise jumped out to a 3-0 lead scoring two runs in the first and one in the second. Eight batters went to the plate in the 20-minute top of the inning as Matt Frye and Evan Stanley each came through with RBI singles. In the second, Chapman led off with a walk and moved to second on a stolen base. After a strikeout, Jordan Tate lifted a fly ball to the gap in left center field where a diving catch was made. Chapman was able to score all the way from second on the sacrifice fly to make it a 3-0 lead.
Tusculum plated two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth on Caleb Mulcahy's solo homer to tie the game at 3-3.
UVA Wise scored three times in the top of the eighth thanks to back-to-back RBI singles from Chapman and Bernard Creque.
Trailing 6-3, Tusculum responded with four runs to take a 7-6 lead. Ryan Ortega led off with a double and moved to third base on Jude Morton's single. After two strikeouts, pinch-hitter Ben Scartz stepped in and hit a three-run blast to left field to tie the game at 6-6. Caleb Webster drew a walk and moved to second on Jurek's third single of the game. Schmarder would reach on a Wise error as Webster scored from second base as TU took a 7-6 lead.
In the top of the ninth, Dylan Foster reached on a one-out single and Stanley got aboard thanks to a catcher's interference call. Morgan Miller blooped a single to right field to put runners on the corners. A wild pitch allowed Foster to score the tying run and send the game to extra innings.
In the top of the 11th, reliever Aiden Tipton record his fifth and sixth strikeouts of the game to start the frame. Babb would get on with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Chapman stepped in and lifted a single to left center which was deep enough to bring Babb home with the go-ahead run.
McAlarnis closed the door with three straight outs including a pair of strikeouts to seal the victory.
Tipton (1-2) suffered the loss as he went a season-high 3.1 innings where he scattered seven hits, allowed two runs, one walk and six strikeouts.
Five Tusculum pitchers combined for a season-high 19 strikeouts in the game, which are tied for the fourth-most in program history. Scout Martin and Tipton accounted for six strikeouts apiece, while Jake McKenna had three strikeouts in his two shutout innings, Ayden Moore and starter Noah Vickers had two strikeouts apiece.
Seven UVA Wise hurlers combined on 15 strikeouts on the evening.
Jurek went 3-for-5 as Tusculum finished the game with seven hits. UVA Wise tallied a dozen hits including two each from Miller and Chapman.
Tusculum returns to conference play as the Pioneers travel to Hickory, North Carolina for a three-game series against 11th-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne beginning with Friday's 6 p.m. series opener.
