GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Alejandro Ponte went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles and four RBI to lead the Tusculum University baseball team to an 11-8 non-conference win over King University Tuesday night at Eastman Credit Union Field & Pioneer Park.
Tusculum (6-12) overcame deficits of 3-0 and 5-3 before erupting for five runs in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead for good.
TU’s Landon Dockery posted a pair of hits, while Ryan Ortega scored three runs and Jake Smith plated two runs and recorded three stolen bases in the victory.
The Tornado (6-12) were led by Justin Smith at the plate as he notched three hits, while Mitchell Victor had a two-hit performance.
King dented the scoreboard first in the top of the third inning when Victor led off with a triple and later scored on Christopher Rosario’s ground out. Logan Janney followed with walk and moved to third on Justin Smith’s single to shallow left field, which he moved to second base on the throw to third. Tommy Regan drove in the second run of the frame with his sacrifice fly. The inning would end when Kale Richardson got caught in a run down, but would be enough for Justin Smith to score for a 3-0 lead for the Tornado.
In the bottom of the inning, Tusculum plated three runs with two outs as Evan Goins had a RBI single and Ponte drove in two more with his first double of the contest to knot the score at 3-3.
In the top of the fourth, King regained the advantage with a pair of runs as Victor had a RBI single, while Rosario followed with a squeeze bunt which brought home Adrian Vidal from third as the Tornado led 5-3.
Tusculum used five hits to score five runs in the bottom of the fourth including RBI singles from Dockery, Jake Smith and Ponte as the Pioneers took its first lead at 8-5.
TU added single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. In the sixth, Ryan Ortega drew a two-out walk and Ponte drove him in with a double to the gap in left center.
In the top of the seventh, trailing 9-5, the Tornado cut into the deficit with three runs. Janney led off with a walk and stole second, while Justin Smith was hit by a pitch. Cooper Emery took over on the mound for the Pioneers and got a fly out for the first out of the inning. Richardson followed with a RBI single and Mason Meinke singled to load the bases. Vidal and Misael Garcia drew back-to-back lead-off walks to make it a 9-8 contest.
Freshman Aidan Sproles took over and got out of the jam with an infield fly, while Ponte made an outstanding catch in right field on Rosario’s liner that was bound for the gap.
Tusculum got a run back in the bottom of the seventh as Jake Smith reached on a throwing error, stole second and moved to third on Dockery’s infield single to put runners on the corners. Dockery stole second and on the throw to second, Jake Smith broke for home on the double-steal as the Pioneers led 10-8.
The Tornado got two runners aboard with one out in the top of the eighth, but Sproles got a foul out and a strikeout to preserve the two-run lead.
The Pioneers added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth as Ortega was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a passed ball and advanced to third on Ponte ground out. After a strikeout, Ortega would score from third base on the second passed ball of the frame.
Sproles would retire the side in order in the ninth to secure his first collegiate save.
Tusculum reliever Will Webb (1-1) tallied his first win in a TU uniform as he went 1.1 innings, allowed two runs (both unearned) on three hits, and a walk.
King reliever Mitchell Kahlenberg (1-4) suffered the loss.
Tusculum begins a four-game road swing which will wrap up next Tuesday with a rematch with King in Bristol. The Pioneers return to South Atlantic Conference play for a three-game series at Emory & Henry, beginning on Friday.
