NEWBERRY, S.C. – David McMahon went 5-for-6 to lead No. 4 seeded Tusculum College to a 10-9 upset win over top-seeded Carson-Newman College Friday morning in the winner’s bracket semifinal of the 2002 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament. The double-elimination tournament is being played at Kirkland Field in conjunction with the Food Lion SAC Spring Sports Festival.

The Pioneers (29-22) advance to Saturday’s winner’s bracket final as they face either No. 3 Catawba College or No. 7 Mars Hill College at 2 p.m. Carson-Newman (36-16), who has their seven-game winning streak ended, will play in an elimination game at 5 p.m. Friday against either No. 2 Presbyterian or No. 6 Wingate University.

Tusculum outhit the Eagles 17-8 as five Pioneers posted multi-hit performances including three-hit efforts by Trevor Adams and Casey Taylor. But the Eagles (ranked No. 21 in NCAA Division II) made their hits count as they added to their record season long-ball tally with three home runs (82 on the year). TC’s win overshadowed the stellar performance by SAC Player of the Year Heath Mason. Mason led C-N going 3-for-3, including a pair of home runs and five RBI.

With the score tied 1-1, TC scored four runs in the top of the third inning as they sent nine batters to the plate. Adams led off with a single and McMahon drove him in with the first of two doubles on the afternoon to break the tie. Michael Holt’s RBI single brought McMahon around to score and Tusculum added two more runs on Taylor’s bases loaded single for a 5-1 lead.

C-N didn’t waste any time as TC starter Kenny Lewis began the inning hitting Ryan Haun and Jim Higgins in back-to-back fashion. Lewis got the next two batters with a strikeout and a groundout, but Mason was not as cooperative as he hit a three-run homer that landed in the football stadium behind the right field wall to cut the deficit to 5-4.

The Pioneers added four more runs in the fifth frame on five hits, including back-to-back doubles from Taylor and Vince Stonesifer. McMahon and Adams also drove in a run apiece with a pair RBI singles. C-N chipped away at the lead as Jim Higgins hit a solo shot in the bottom of the fifth to cut the TC lead to 9-5. The Eagles added two more runs in the sixth as Mason led off with his second round tripper of the day. Nathan Gravely tripled home Jared Hubbard to make it a 9-7 contest.

Tusculum added a critical run in the top of the seventh as Stonesifer led off with a solo home run to left center for a 10-7 TC lead. And that homer would prove huge, as the Eagles wouldn’t go away. In the bottom of the inning, Aaron Shaffer and Mason drew a pair of one-out walks and both would later cross the plate on Hubbard’s RBI single to center. Justin Aldridge came on in relief and got a Gravely to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Aldridge retired the Eagles in order in the eighth inning, but wasn’t as lucky in the ninth. After getting the first out on a pop up, he walked Shaffer and Mason. Jason Davis was called out of the bullpen and struck out Hubbard and Jason Southerland to end the game. Lewis was credited with the win to improve to 6-1 on the season while Davis earned his sixth save of the year. C-N starter Derek Hommel was tagged with the loss as he falls to 4-3.

Tusculum also recorded its 28th triple of the season, which is one-shy of tying a South Atlantic Conference record.

Food Lion / SAC Spring Sports Festival – Game 7
Tusculum College vs Carson-Newman
Apr 26, 2002 at Newberry, S.C. (Kirkland Field)

Tusculum College 10 (29-22) Carson-Newman 9 (36-16)
Player                     AB R H BI     Player                    AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Dave McMahon cf............ 6 1 5 2     Jim Higgins 2b............. 4 2 1 1
Michael Holt lf............ 6 1 1 1     Wes Ward c................. 5 1 1 0
J. Martinez 3b............. 4 2 1 0     Aaron Shaffer lf........... 3 1 0 0
G. Hanger dh............... 4 1 2 1     Heath Mason rf............. 3 3 3 5
Casey Taylor 1b............ 5 1 3 2     Jared Hubbard ss........... 5 1 2 2
Stonesifer rf.............. 4 2 2 2     Jason Southerland 1b....... 5 0 0 0
Scott Reames c............. 4 0 0 0     Jason Lineberger dh........ 3 0 0 0
 Adam Hicks ph............. 1 0 0 0     Ryan Haun 3b............... 3 1 0 0
 Doug Hering c............. 0 0 0 0     Derek Hommel p............. 0 0 0 0
Trevor Adams 2b............ 5 1 3 1      Derrick Collins p......... 0 0 0 0
Kenny Lewis p.............. 0 0 0 0      Ryan West p............... 0 0 0 0
 Eli Rose p................ 0 0 0 0
 J. Aldridge p............. 0 0 0 0
 Jason Davis p............. 0 0 0 0
Totals ................... 43 10 17 9   Totals..................... 35 9 8 9

Score by Innings                    R  H E
-------------------------------------------
Tusculum College.... 104 040 100 - 10 17 1
Carson-Newman....... 103 012 200 -  9  8 1
-------------------------------------------

E - Michael Holt(2); Haun(3). DP - Pioneers 1; Eagles 2. LOB - Pioneers 10; Eagles
6. 2B - Dave McMahon 3(10); Casey Taylor 2(12); Stonesifer(9); Ward(3); Hubbard(3).
3B - J. Martinez(4); Gravley(3). HR - Stonesifer(4); Higgins(3); Mason 2(6). HBP -
J. Martinez; Stonesifer; Rob Bouman; Higgins; Haun. SB - Mason(4).

Tusculum College            IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kenny Lewis W,6-1......... 5.0 6 7 7   0 5   0 0   2  0  21 23  4 6
Eli Rose ................. 1.1 2 2 2   3 3   1 0   0  0   6  9  0 1
J. Aldridge .............. 2.0 0 0 0   2 1   0 0   0  0   6  8  3 1
Jason Davis S,6........... 0.2 0 0 0   0 2   0 0   0  0   2  2  0 0

Carson-Newman               IP  H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Derek Hommel L,4-3........ 2.0  6 5  5  1  0  0  0 1   0  11 13  3 2
Derrick Collins ...........6.0 10 5  5  0  5  0  1 2   0  28 30  9 3
Ryan West .................1.0  1 0  0  0  1  0  0 0   0   4  4  0 2

WP - Eli Rose(9). HB - Kenny Lewis 2; Hommel; Collins 2. BK - Collins(3).
Strikeouts - J. Martinez; Rob Bouman; Scott Reames 2; Trevor Adams 2; Higgins 2;
Ward 2; Shaffer; Hubbard; Southerland 2; Linebarger; Haun 2. Walks - G. Hanger;
Shaffer 2; Mason 2; Linebarger.

Start: 9 a.m. Time: 2:35 Attendance: 196
Hommel faced 5 batters in the 3rd.
Kenny Lewis faced 2 batters in the 6th.