GAFFNEY, S.C. — Davis Turner hit a walk-off grand slam in the 11th inning to lead Limestone University to a 12-8 South Atlantic Conference win over visiting Tusculum University Friday at Founders FCU Stadium.
The Saints (23-24, 14-14 SAC) capture the weekend series opener, while the Pioneers (23-24, 16-12 SAC) suffer its fifth straight loss.
Turner went 3-for-6 with a pair of home runs, a double, and eight RBI. Noah Love went 5-for-6 with four runs scored and two RBI, while Sion Barnette, Gavin Troyer and Benny Patridge each accounted for two hits in the victory.
Limestone jumped out to an 8-2 lead through seven innings, only to see Tusculum rally with four runs in the eighth and two more in the ninth to send the game to extra innings.
In the bottom of the 11th, Barnette led off by striking out swinging, but the ball got away from the catcher and the throw to first base was off target. The errant throw allowed Barnette to get the second base. Patridge drew a walk and Love singled to load the bases for Turner with no outs. Turner belted the third pitch over the right field wall for the game-winner.
The Saints took a 4-0 lead in the third inning as eight batters went to the plate. Barnette and Patridge hit back-to-back one-out singles and Love drove in the first run of the game with base hit. Turner made it 3-0 with his two-run double and Troyer followed with a RBI single.
Tusculum was held hitless through the first four innings as Limestone starting pitcher Colt Wilkins allowed a first inning walk and proceeded to retire 11 straight TU batters.
The Pioneers got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth thanks to Austin Collins’ two-out, two-run single down the left field line. The Saints answered with two runs in the bottom of the frame on Turner’s two-run homer to center to extend the lead to 6-2.
Limestone posted a run in the sixth on Barnette’s two-out single and Love hit a solo homer in the seventh to spot the Saints to an 8-2 lead.
Tusculum mounted a two-out rally in the eighth when Zane Keener, Luis Reyes and Murphy Flood consecutive singles to load the bases. Ben Scartz responded with a two-run single down the right field line to trim the deficit to 8-4. Omar Carreras followed with a two-run double to left to make it an 8-6 contest.
In the top of the ninth, Will Samuelson drew a one out walk. After a strikeout, Keener came through with a two-out double down the left field line to put the tying runs in scoring position. Luis Reyes hit a grounder to the shortstop, but an errant throw allowed the two runs to score to tie the game at 8-8.
Tusculum closer Seth Willis came onto pitch as he retired the side in order in the ninth and worked around a two-out single in the 10th. Meanwhile, Limestone reliever, who came onto pitch in the ninth, retired the sides in order in the 10th and the 11th innings to set the stage for the late-game drama.
Neal improves to 5-2 on the season, while Willis suffered the loss to move to 4-3 on the year.
Keener went 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored to extend his on-base streak to 24 consecutive games, the ninth-longest in program history. Scartz’s two-run single in the eighth extended his on-base streak to 21 in a row (tied for 11th longest by a Pioneer).
The SAC regular-season wraps up on Saturday with a noon doubleheader between the two teams. If the Pioneers win one of Saturday’s two games, they would qualify for the SAC Championship postseason. TU is currently locked in a three-way tie for fifth in the league standings with Carson-Newman and Newberry. Top eight teams advance to the SAC postseason tournament.
