All Spring Championship Recaps

Tusculum 9, Carson- Newman 5

Catawba 9, Mars Hill 5

Mars Hill 11, Carson- Newman 4

Catawba 9, Tusculum 2

Tusculum 9, Carson- Newman 5 Box Score
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. -- Second-seeded Tusculum downed third-seeded Carson- Newman 9-5 in the 2006 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament, hosted Saturday at Pioneer Park.

Tusculum (38-12-1) remains in the winner's bracket and will next face the winner of the contest between No. 1 Catawba and No. 4 Mars Hill on Saturday at 9 p.m. Carson-Newman (34- 19) drops to the loser's bracket and will square off with the loser of the Catawba/Mars Hill game at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.

For the second straight day, action was delayed at Pioneer Park due to rain. The game started 10 a.m., one hour later than anticipated, and featured two rain delays, the first of which lasted 27 minutes, and the second which spanned 39 minutes.

Greg Stotser (Columbus, Ga.) led the Pioneers at the plate, going 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBI. Skip Talarek (Great Falls, Va.) was a perfect 4-for-4 with two RBI, and Matt Riggs (Dayton, Tenn.) was 2-for-5 with two runs driven in.

Ben Swaggerty (Knoxville, Tenn.) recorded the win in relief, surrendering one hit and no runs in 0.1 innings of work. Brandon Dickson (West Marbury, Ala.) notched his fourth save of the season, allowing no runs on three hits over 3.0 innings.

For Carson-Newman, Nick Achberger (Anderson, S.C.) went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Mike Ealey (Springfield, Ohio) took the loss, giving up three earned runs on six hits and two walks over 5.0 innings.

Tusculum wasted no time getting on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning, plating four runs to take a 4-0 lead. Josh Wolff (Louisville, Ky.) led off with a triple to right center. Skip Talarek (Great Falls, Va.) drove him home with a hard hit single to short. Greg Stotser (Columbus, Ga.) then belted a two-run homer over the wall in left field, scoring Talarek. Adam Beachman (Atlanta, Ga.) tallied the final run of the inning when he scored on a Carson-Newman fielding error.

After collecting a run in the second and fifth innings, Carson-Newman posted a three-run sixth to tie the game at 5-5. Achberger doubled down the left field line, driving in Adam Kefauver (Madisonville, Tenn.) for the first scoring tally. Achberger plated an unearned run when Jim Doran (Newton, N.J.) reached on an error. Langdon Potts (Jefferson City, Tenn.) generated the third run with an RBI single that scored Doran.

Tusculum regained its lead with a run in the bottom of the sixth and then notched three runs in the bottom of the seventh to secure the 9-5 win. Jake Corley (Champaign, Ill.) laid down a bunt toward the mound to score Matt Webb (Duluth, Ga.) for the first run. A double down the left field line by Riggs drove in Corley and Tim Brown (Flint, Mich.) for the final two runs of the contest.

Catawba 9, Mars Hill 5 Box Score
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. -- Top-seeded Catawba defeated fourth-seeded Mars Hill 9-5 in the 2006 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament, hosted Saturday at Pioneer Park.

Catawba, which improves to 42-11 on the season, remains in the winner's bracket, where it will face No. 2 Tusculum at 9 p.m. on Saturday. Mars Hill slips to 30-26 and meets No. 3 Carson-Newman at 5:15 p.m. on Saturday.

Matt Smith (Brown Summitt, N.C.) led Catawba, going 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Nick Lefko (Faith, N.C.) and Chad Baker (Jamestown, N.C.) had two RBI each. David Thomas (Winston-Salem, N.C.) was 4-for-5 with three runs and one RBI.

Tim Smith (Walnut Cove, N.C.) recorded the victory, giving up five earned runs on seven hits and four walks over 7.1 innings. He struck out five.

Matt Russell (Chapel Hill, N.C.) led Mars Hill at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a homer, two RBI and two runs scored.

Catawba gained a 2-0 advantage in the top of the third inning compliments of Matt Smith's two-run homer.

Mars Hill tallied its first run in the bottom of the fourth to pull within 2-1. John Quail (Boonsboro, Md.) doubled to left center to score David DeSilva (Charlotte, N.C.) for the tally.

Catawba posted four runs in the fifth to go in front 6-1. Zach Evans (Greensboro, N.C.) started the scoring with a towering homer to straight-a-way center field. Jimbo Davis (Salisbury, N.C.) grounded to the pitcher to score Thomas for the second run. The remaining two runs of the inning came via bases-loaded walks drawn by Lefko and Baker.

MHC tallied one run in both the fifth and sixth innings to slice its deficit to 6-3, but Catawba responded with two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth to extend the Indians' advantage to 9-3.

Mars Hill made the most of its final at-bat, putting two more runs on the board on Russell's two-run homer that hit above the 400 feet marker in center field.

Mars Hill 11, Carson- Newman 4 Box Score
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - Fourth-seeded Mars Hill defeated third-seeded Carson- Newman 11-4 on Saturday at the 2006 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament, hosted at Pioneer Park.

The win keeps Mars Hill's championship hopes alive, as the Lions (31-26) advance to face the loser of the contest between No. 1 Catawba and No. 2 Tusculum on Sunday at 11 a.m. Carson-Newman concludes its season with a 34-20 record.

Marc Wassum (Winter Park, Fla.) was a force at the plate for Mars Hill, going 4-for-5 with four RBI. Matt Carter (Sunrise, Fla.) was 3-for-5 with three RBI.

Nathan Fritz (Kingsport, Tenn.) recorded the win for the Lions, allowing two earned runs on five hits and three walks over 7.0 innings. He struck out two.

Langdon Potts (Jefferson City, Tenn.) paced the Eagles' offensive efforts, going 2-for-5 with an RBI. Matt Teague (Belmont, N.C.) took the loss, surrendering four earned runs on six hits and one walk over 3.2 innings. He struck out three.

Mars Hill jumped out to a 7-0 lead before Carson-Newman got on the scoreboard. In the first inning, Wassum drove in two runs with a single to right center. Wassum also drove in two runs in the third with an RBI single to left field. The Lions would tack on three additional runs in the fourth. David DeSilva (Charlotte, N.C.) sent Billy Britt (Asheville, N.C.) home with a single up the middle. Carter doubled to center to score DeSilva and Clarke Rollins (Mechanicsville, Md.) for two more runs.

Carson-Newman plated its first run in the top of the sixth, and then added another in the top of the seventh to cut its deficit to 7-2. Potts scored the first run on a wild pitch. In his next at- bat, he doubled to left center to drive in Corey Lamson (Gray, Tenn.) for the other scoring tally.

MHC chalked four more runs in the seventh to extend its lead to 11-2. Carter belted an RBI double to generate the first tally. Chris Lambert (Brevard, N.C.) hit a grounder to second that scored two runs, while Jason Yelton (Burnsville, N.C.) had an RBI double.

Carson-Newman added two runs in the eighth to set the final score at 11-4. Nick Achberger (Anderson, S.C.) singled to right center to score Joe Kugler (Cleveland, Tenn.). Tyler Wynn (LaGrange, Ga.) drew a bases-loaded walk to score Jonathan Mary (Maryville, Tenn.) for the final run of the game.

Catawba 9, Tusculum 2 Box Score
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. -- Top-seeded Catawba punched its ticket to the championship game of the 2006 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament by defeating second-seeded Tusculum 9-2 on Saturday night at Pioneer Park.

The Indians' win snapped a 14-game win streak for Tusculum (38-13-1), which moves to the elimination bracket title game, where it will square off with No. 4 Mars Hill at 11 a.m. on Sunday. The winner of the game will advance to the championship game versus Catawba, which will be played at 2 p.m. If necessary, a second championship game would be played at 5 p.m.

Matt Smith (Brown Summitt, N.C.) paced the Catawba offense, going 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs. David Thomas (Winston-Salem, N.C.) was 2-for-4 with a home run, one RBI, and three runs.

Alex Fairweather (Lenoir, N.C.) recorded the win, allowing two earned runs on six hits and five walks over 5.1 innings. He struck out eight TC batters.

For Tusculum, Tim Brown (Flint, Mich.) was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Michael Handley (Duluth, Ga.) was credited with the loss, allowing six earned runs on five hits and four walks over 3.0 innings. He struck out four.

Catawba took a 3-0 lead in its first at-bat of the contest. Thomas led off with a homer to right field. Mark Smith (Brown Summitt, N.C.) grounded to third to score Matt Smith, and then Jerry Sands (Clayton, N.C.) came home on an RBI single by Aaron Rimer (Salisbury, N.C.).

Tusculum pulled within 3-2 in the top of the second, but the two runs proved to be the Pioneers' only scoring tallies of the game. Matt Webb (Duluth, Ga.) singled to right center, and then was driven home on a double by Brown. Aaron Hudgins (Kingsport, Tenn.) drove in Brown with a grounder to second.

After adding an insurance run in the bottom of the second, Catawba collected four runs in the fourth to extend its lead to 8-2. Jimbo Davis (Salisbury, N.C.) generated the first run with an RBI single to left field that scored Thomas. Matt Smith chalked the second run of the stanza on a wild pitch. Rimer drew a bases-loaded walk to score Davis. Chad Baker (Jamestown, N.C.) accounted for the final run of the inning with a sacrifice fly that scored Mark Smith.

The Indians added their final run of the contest on an RBI double by Matt Smith.