Tusculum third-baseman Max Schmarder broke a program record which has lasted 17 years as the Pioneers split a South Atlantic Conference baseball doubleheader with Lincoln Memorial Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Park.
LMU starter Colin Murphy pitched a nine-inning complete game as the Railsplitters rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win 7-3 in the opener. Tusculum bounced back with a 6-4 win in the night-cap as the Pioneers claim the weekend series, 2-1.
Schmarder recorded a single in each game to extend his hitting streak to school record 29 consecutive contests, breaking the previous mark of 28 in a row by former TU All-American Maikol Gonzalez from Mar. 16, 2008 to May 3, 2008.
Game 1: Lincoln Memorial 7, Tusculum 3
Murphy (4-2) overcame a sluggish second inning and blanked Tusculum over the final seven innings as Lincoln Memorial prevailed to a 7-3 win in Saturday’s first game.
Murphy retired 21 of the final 23 batters he would face as he finished the game allowing three runs on seven hits, no walks and posted three strikeouts in his 107-pitch performance. He recorded perfect innings in the third, fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth innings avenge Friday night’s 12-2 loss in the series opener.
LMU’s Trace Simmons went 2-for-4 with three RBI and a stolen base. Archer Wong-Shasteen went 2-for-2 with a walk, scored a run and was hit by a pitch.
Tusculum scored three times in the second inning as Ben Scartz led off with a single and Schmarder lined a base hit to right field to tie record a 28 games in a row. Caleb Mulcahy legged out a bunt single to load the bases. Ryan Ortega drove in the first run of the game with his sacrifice fly. Avery Collins grounded out to bring home the second run. Ty Smith followed with a clutch two-out double to right as TU went up 3-0.
Tusculum starting pitcher Philip Miller was masterful through the first four innings as he allowed a single and two walks but managed to keep LMU off the board.
But in the top of the fifth, Kevin Fernandez led off with a double off the wall in left and Wong-Shasteen drew a walk. Chris Hall reached on a bunt single to load the bases with no outs. Miller struck out Kasten Harvey for the first out of the frame. Alex Kowalski drew a walk to drive in LMU’s first run of the game. Miller got an infield popup for the second out of the inning. But Simmons tied the game with his opposite field two-run single. Ayden Moore took over for Miller and surrendered a two-run single to pinch-hitter Austin Epperson as LMU took its first lead of the game at 5-3.
Lincoln Memorial tacked on two insurance runs in the seventh thanks two base hits and a pair of Tusculum errors to extend the lead to 7-3.
Tusculum reliever Caid Sanders blanked LMU over the final three innings as he scattered two hits and posted a strikeout.
The Pioneers committed four errors in the game while LMU turned a pair of double plays.
Game 2: Tusculum 6, Lincoln Memorial 4
Tusculum used a pair of three-run innings and held off two LMU rallies as the Pioneers won the series rubber-match, 6-4.
Millsaps accounted for a pair of doubles including one that drove in the game’s first two runs in the opening frame. Mulcahy added a sacrifice fly to make it a 3-0 contest.
LMU answered with a pair of unearned runs in the second as Epperson reached on a two-out error which allowed Kevin Fernandez to hit a home run over the left field wall as the Railsplitters trailed 3-2.
Tusculum starting pitcher Brice Anders bounced back and retired seven of the last nine batters he would face including six in a row to preserve the lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, Tusculum added three important runs which was sparked by Schmarder’s single up the middle which earned him the record with his 29-game hitting streak. Tusculum would load the bases with two outs as pinch hitter Jude Morton and Luis Reyes drew back-to-back RBI walks to extend the lead to 5-2. Caleb Mulcahy would score an unearned run on a passed ball to make it a 6-2 contest.
LMU answered with two runs in the top of the sixth against TU reliever Cooper Emery. Kowalski led off with a double but Emery retired the next two batters for two outs in the inning and Kowalski standing at third. Brooks Hagedorn made it a two-run game with his second homer of the season to bring home Kowalski to trail 6-4.
In the top of the seventh Sanders, who took over the in the sixth, retired the first two batters on a fly out and a pop up. But Mast reached on an error and Simmons singled to put the tying runs on base. Sanders would end the game with a strikeout to earn his first save of the year.
Anders picked up the victory going four innings with two runs (both unearned), two hits, two walks and two strikeouts to move his record to 3-7. LMU starter Carter White (4-3) suffered the loss in his 4.2 innings of work which included six strikeouts.
Sawyer Pace also had a pair of hits for the Pioneers which included his sixth double of the season.
Schmarder also extends his streak of reaching base safely to 34 consecutive games which is the seventh-longest streak in program history. Ortega and Mulcahy have reached base safely in 12 straight games while Caleb Webster extended his on-base run to 11 in a row.
Tusculum returns to action on Tuesday when they host UVA Wise for a non-conference game at 6 p.m. TU defeated the Highland Cavaliers 7-5 in last month’s meeting at Wise.
