GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Lindsey Umberger capped a 5-for-7 afternoon by hitting a game-ending grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning to give Tusculum College an 8-0 victory over Anderson University and a sweep of their South Atlantic Conference softball doubleheader Saturday at Red Edmonds Field.
The Pioneers captured the opener 9-1 in six innings as Umberger went 3-for-3 with two runs scored and two runs batted in, including a game-ending single, and Shanda Kimbrough hit a bases-clearing double as part of a five-run second inning.
With the victories, the Pioneers improve to 26-9 overall and take over first place in the SAC with a 7-1 league record. Tusculum has a key league showdown on Sunday at 2 p.m. at 10th-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne, currently in second place in the SAC at 5-1.
Game 1: Tusculum 9, Anderson 1 (6 innings)
(Box Score)
The Pioneers jumped to a 6-0 lead after two innings and rolled to the victory over the Trojans. Umberger singled twice and tripled to lead a nine-hit attack, while Taylor MacDonald and Brooklyn Cress each had two hits and scored a pair of runs. Erin Searcy (12-7) scattered four hits and struck out six to earn the victory for the Pioneers.
Tusculum opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the first against Anderson starter Alex Waldroup, as MacDonald led off with a double, took third on a passed ball and scored on a single to right by Umberger.
In the second, the Pioneers took advantage of Waldroup's wildness to score five runs on two hits and four walks. Katie Brennan led off with a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice by Paige Sneed. Cress followed with an infield single to short, and Brennan scored as the throw got away at first base to give the Pioneers a 2-0 lead.
After a strikeout, Waldroup issued consecutive walks to Savannah Ewing, Umberger and Ashley Burke to force home a run and extend the Tusculum lead to 3-0. Kimbrough then lined a 2-1 pitch just inside the left-field line to clear the bases and double the Pioneer advantage to 6-0.
Anderson scored what turned out to be its only run of the afternoon in the fourth on a run-scoring grounder by Charlotte Sieber. Tusculum responded with a run in the bottom of the inning as Umberger tripled with one out and scored when Anderson third baseman Emily Montieth caught Burke's foul popup and stepped out of play, which entitled Umberger to advance one base.
The Pioneers wrapped up the game in the bottom of the sixth with two runs off Trojan reliever Kelsey Davis. Cress, MacDonald, Ewing and Umberger reached on consecutive singles to open the inning, the latter two hits driving in the eighth and ninth runs of the game.
Waldroup (3-2) gave up seven runs (six earned) on five hits and six walks over four innings of work, striking out five and throwing a whopping 106 pitches. Amber Duncan accounted for half of the Trojans' four hits with a pair of singles.
Game 2: Tusculum 8, Anderson 0 (6 innings)
(Box Score)
Umberger drove in five of the Pioneers' eight runs, hitting her second triple of the day in the first inning to open the scoring and lining an opposite-field grand slam in the sixth to end the game via eight-run rule.
Elizabeth Johnson (13-2) tossed a two-hitter for her fourth shutout of the season, throwing just 58 pitches over six innings of work.
Umberger finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored for the Pioneers, while MacDonald went 2-for-4 with a run scored and Burke was 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored. Tusculum out-hit Anderson 12-2 in the contest, with four of the Pioneers' hits going for extra bases.
The Pioneers also made several outstanding defensive plays in the contest. Johnson started a double play on a comebacker to end the first inning and Burke made a twisting catch at the fence in left with two runners on base to end the Anderson third and preserve a 2-0 Tusculum lead.
The finest play of the day came in the fourth when Anderson's Laura Jansky lifted a foul popup toward the out-of-play line behind first base. MacDonald raced over from her second-base position to glove the popup at the line, but juggled it as she crossed the line. Before landing out of play, she flipped the ball backwards and right fielder Katy Stuckwish, who had backed up the play, snagged the blind toss for the out.
Tusculum scored twice in the bottom of the first to open the scoring against Anderson starter Casey Deer. MacDonald singled to left to lead off and came around on a triple to the center field fence by Umberger. Burke followed with a single to right to plate Umberger and give the Pioneers a 2-0 lead.
In the third, the Pioneers tacked on two more runs as Burke walked with one out and moved to third on a double by Stuckwish. Brennan followed with a blooper to the right side that fell in and bounced away from the Anderson second baseman, allowing Burke and Stuckwish to score for a 4-0 lead.
The Pioneers closed out the game in the sixth by loading the bases on pinch-hit singles from Kristin Cantrell and Lindsay Bridges and a single by Ewing. Umberger then lined the first pitch she saw over the fence in right for her first home run of the year and an 8-0 victory.
Deer (12-9) pitched 5 1/3 innings for the Trojans, allowing eight earned runs on 12 hits while walking two and striking out eight.
- TC -
