GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – For the eighth straight time at Pioneer Park, the Tusculum Pioneers (6-4, 4-2 South Atlantic Conference) defeated the Carson-Newman Eagles (9-4, 4-3 SAC) 5-0 Friday night at Pioneer Park.

"You have to give them one hundred percent, all the credit," head coach Tom Griffin said of Tusculum's performance. "They outcoached us. They outplayed us in every aspect. The way they competed with two strikes, putting balls in play was outstanding."

Tusculum climbed out to a 1-0 advantage in the bottom of the second inning when right fielder Trey Drewery lined a 2-2 pitch back up the middle for a single. After catcher Scott Gibson singled, Drewery moved to third base with one out. Third basemen Cody Andreychuk singled into center field to bring home Drewery. With a runner at third base and one out, shortstop Chris Waylock flew out to junior right fielder Cody Fox (Seymour, Tenn.) who turned and hurled a strike to the plate to double-up Gibson and end the frame.

The Pioneers added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth stanza. Designated hitter Taylor Foster singled to start a rally. After a fly out and a strike out, Eagle starter junior Quinton Yocom (Cable, Ohio) walked Waylock. Second basemen Nick Rodriguez laced a single through a hole in the left side of the infield to bring home Foster and make it a 2-0 game.

In the seventh inning, Yocom retired the first two batters on fly outs. The righty hit a batter then walked first basemen Heath Comerford. After throwing one pitch, Griffin brought in right-hander Michael Cogliano (Medford, N.J.) to replace Yocom. Drewery lined a single into left field to bring home a run. Foster smacked a double out of the reach of first basemen Shade Jett's glove to score a pair of runs and make it a 5-0 lead.

The Eagles could only muster two hits, a leadoff single by sophomore designated hitter Joe Tipton (Dandrige, Tenn.) in the first inning and a single by junior left fielder Bo Ausmus (Jefferson City, Tenn.) that saw second basemen Peter Rajkovich (Stockton, Calif.) thrown out trying to go first-to-third to end the game.

Yocom takes his first loss of the season despite throwing 6.2 innings where he allowed four runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and three walks.

Ausmus extended his hitting streak to ten games with his single.

Tusculum starting pitcher Christian Raasch tossed a complete game where he struck out three and hit two batters while allowing just two singles.

"The thing we talked about more than anything was we thought they competed better than us," Griffin said of a discussion with the team after the contest. "They wanted it more than us. That's my fault. We [the coaches] did not get them ready to come in here and battle."

The two teams will tangle once again Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Sophomore left-hander Vince Apicella (Dillsburg, Pa.) and senior right-hander Dustin Dunagan (Winder, Ga.) are the starting pitchers tomorrow after. Pregame coverage begins at 12:50 p.m. on the Eagle Sports Network.

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