GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - - UVA Wise scored five runs in the seventh inning and five runs in the eighth inning to overcome a six-run deficit en route to an 11-8 win over Tusculum in the South Atlantic Conference baseball opener for both schools at Pioneer Park Friday.
Tusculum (8-3, 0-1 SAC) built a 7-1 lead after six innings of play behind timely hit and solid pitching from starter Luke Absher. Senior Rudy Fernandez had a three-run double in the sixth before later scoring on a Ben Scartz RBI single as part of a four-run frame to stake the hosts to the six-run advantage.
UVA Wise (4-10, 1-0 SAC) never quit. In the top of the seventh, Morgan Miller scored on D'Sean Prinkleton's run-scoring double before he later scored on an RBI single by DJ Dickson.
Third baseman Jeb Hurst got the Cavaliers within a run when he belted a three-run homer to left field to make it a 7-6 affair and cap a five-run seventh inning for the guests.
Will Samuelson would push the Pioneers' lead back to two when he knocked in Zane Keeler who had singled and stolen a base earlier in the inning. It would be all Tusculum would get as UVA Wise reliever Ryan Whitson would retire the next two batters to send the game to the eighth inning with his club trailing 8-6.
Early in the season, Brandon Costa's team had been the victim of misfortune in several close games. That feeling may have changed after Hunter Meador's at bat to start the eighth.
The Roanoke, Va. product popped up a pitch down the right field line in "no man's land". The ball would eventually fall between Tusculum's first baseman Samuelson and Fernandez for a leadoff double.
After a single by Justin Reed and a walk by Miller, the Cavs sent Evan Stanley to the plate with the bases loaded and nobody out, down a pair.
Stanley would work a bases loaded walk on a 3-2 pitch allowing Meador to come home, cutting the lead to a run. After Prinkleton popped out, Matt Frye would be hit with a 1-2 pitch allowing Reed to come home with the tying run.
At that point, DJ Dickson stepped to the plate. The sophomore delivered his best at bat of the early season; after nearly missing a double down the right field line on back-to-back pitches on balls that just landed foul, Dickson went the other way with a double that scored Stanley and Miller to give UVA Wise its first lead of the day.
Hurst would then collect his fourth RBI of the night with a run-scoring ground out to stake the visitors to a three-run lead.
With the lead in hand, Costa turned to right-hander Hunter Anderson out of the bullpen. The Chelsea, Ala. native would retire the Pioneers in order in the eighth before working around a two-out infield single in the ninth to preserve the victory and record his second save of 2023.
Whitson picked up the mound win to even his record at 1-1 this season.
Hurst finished with a game-high four RBI with Dickson finishing 2-for-5 with three RBI. Cole Harness and Prinkleton added two hits each for a lineup that lined 10 hits.
Fernandez went 3-for-4 with three RBI in defeat while Absher tossed 6 2/3 innings of five-hit ball. The starter allowed four runs (three earned) while fanning four and walking two in a no-decision effort.
The same two schools will be back at it Saturday for a doubleheader. Due to incoming weather, the start of game one has been moved to 3 p.m.
Fans can watch the action live on FloSports.
