GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Owen Mandler went 4-for-7 with four RBI on the day to lead the Seton Hill baseball team to a doubleheader sweep over Tusculum Sunday afternoon at Pioneer Park.
The Griffins (4-1, ranked 5th in NCBWA Division II Atlantic Region Poll) won the first game 11-3 and completed the Sunday sweep with a 7-2 decision in the night cap.
The two teams will wrap up the three-game weekend series with a 12 p.m. contest on Monday.
Game 1: Seton Hill 11, Tusculum 3
Seton Hill’s Matt Frazetta went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles, while Colin Ahr recorded a pair of hits including a two-run homer as the Griffins claimed the series opener 11-3.
SHU amassed 14 hits in the contest including five doubles and two home runs. Mandler posted two hits while Mark Black also had a two-hit outing.
Tusculum jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning as Ryan Ortega and Avery Collins reached base on a back-to-back, one-out singles. Max Schmarder came through with a RBI double down the right field line and Collins came into score when Connor Jurek reached on an infield error.
The Griffins cut the deficit in half when Owen Henne led off the fourth inning with a solo homer down the left field line. SHU took the lead in the fifth with a pair of runs to make it a 3-2 contest thanks to a RBI single from Michael Gregos and Henne’s sacrifice fly.
Seton Hill erupted for a four-run frame in the sixth as the Griffins pounded out five hits including Frazetta’s two-run double. SHU tacked on two runs in the seventh on Ahr’s homer and two more in the eighth on Mandler’s two-out double.
Tusculum finished the game with 10 hits, but hit into a pair of double plays. Ben Scartz, Omar Carreras, Collins and Ortega each finished with two hits apiece.
SHU starter Jon McCullough (2-0) picked up the victory as he allowed two runs on six hits, no walks and posted two strikeouts. TU starter Luke Absher (0-2) suffered the loss as he went five innings, allowed six runs on nine hits, zero walks and four strikeouts in his 81-pitch performance.
Game 2: Seton Hill 7, Tusculum 2
Seton Hill manufactured runs in each of the first six innings, while pitchers Matthew Blanchard and Julian Minaya blanked Tusculum through the first five as the Griffins won the night-cap, 7-2.
SHU scored four of its seven runs with two outs in the inning. The Griffins accounted for seven hits, with two of them being home runs.
In the first inning, Jack Whalen led off with single and later stole second base. He would steal third and scored on an errant throw on the steal to take a 1-0 lead. In the second inning, Ahr was hit by a pitch to start the inning and moved to second on a walk. He stole third and scored on Gregos ground out.
In the third inning, Henne led off with a single and moved to second when Mandler was hit by a pitch. Both runners would move up a base when Brady McGuire fouled down the right field line, allowing both to move into scoring position. After a walk to load the bases, Ahr drove in the game’s third run with his sacrifice fly. Catcher Jakob Haynes led off led off the fourth with a home run and in the fifth, Frazetta blasted a solo shot of his own with two outs to extend the lead to 4-0. The Griffins tacked on a pair of runs in the sixth on Mandler’s two-out single.
Blanchard scattered two hits in his two shutout innings to start the game. Minaya (1-1) followed with three shutout innings as he allowed just two hits, with one walk and posted four strikeouts. Schmarder would break the scoreless drought with his two-run homer to left field, his second round-tripper of the season.
SHU reliever Sean Williams pitched a perfect final inning, retiring the Pioneers (3-9) on three straight ground outs to shortstop to end the game.
Tusculum starter Brice Anders (1-3) went five innings in the loss where he posted three strikeouts. Reliever Mason Huffstickler limited Seton Hill to two unearned runs on one hit, one walk and three strikeouts in his two-inning, 38-pitch effort.
