GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - Freshman Chelsea Jones tossed the first perfect game in the South Atlantic Conference since 2006 to help lead the 23rd-ranked Anderson University softball team to a doubleheader sweep of Tusculum, 5-1 and 8-0, Tuesday afternoon at Red Edmonds Field.

Behind stellar pitching and clutch hitting, Anderson (27-7, 10-2 SAC) opened a six-game road swing with its fourth straight win and 12th victory in 14 outings.
Tusculum slipped to 14-16 overall and 4-8 in conference action, while dropping its fifth decision in the last six games.

Senior Jessica Neidigh, junior Molly Child and Jones provide the offensive firepower, as the trio combined for 12 hits and five RBI on the afternoon. Neidigh raised her batting average 23 points with six hits on the day.

Game #1
Anderson 5, Tusculum 1
Neidigh was 3-for-4 in the opener, with two singles and a double. She also scored once and drove in a run. Freshman Carli Hurtado added a pair of singles in three trips to the plate, while crossing the plate once and driving in a run. Child was 2-for-4, with two singles and posted two RBI. Freshman Rachael Barefield added a two-out single that sparked the decisive five-run fourth inning.

Sophomore Lauren Rudesheim (10-4) posted the complete-game win in the opener, scattering seven hits and limiting the Pioneers to one earned run. She struck out two and walked two.

The opener was a pitcher's duel through the first three frames, as the two hurlers combined to allow just three hits, but the Trojans' five-run fourth inning proved to be the difference.

Anderson threatened early, as Neidigh led off the contest by going the opposite way for a single, but the Trojans were unable to capitalize at the plate. In similar fashion, Tusculum's Carolyn Williamson countered by leading off the bottom of the first with a walk, but was stranded at third.

Jones was hit by a pitch to lead off the second inning and moved into scoring position over on Bri Cason's sacrifice bunt, but AU was again unable to take advantage, stranding the second of 12 runners on the afternoon. The Pioneers had their leadoff runner also reach for second straight inning, as Treslyn Reese singled up the middle and a two-out walk by Bailey Culler placed two on the base paths but Tusculum was unable to push a run across.

After a scoreless third inning, the Trojan bats came alive, as AU batted around and scored five runs with two outs. Jones led off the inning with an infield single to the right side and moved to third when the Pioneers misplayed Cason's sacrifice bunt attempt. Senior Rebecca Martin reached on a fielder's choice and with two outs, clutch run-scoring singles by Barefield and Hurtado brought both Jones and Martin home for the first two runs of the contest. Anderson added its third run on Neidigh's double down the right-field line and two more runs scored when Child laced a single to the gap in right-center.

Rudesheim's bid for her fourth shutout of the season was spoiled when Tusculum plated a run with one out run in the bottom of the sixth inning on the strength of three consecutive base hits. But Rudesheim ended the threat by inducing an inning-ending double play and retired the Pioneers in order in the bottom of the seventh.

Game #2
Anderson 8, Tusculum 0 (5 innings)
Neidigh extended her hitting streak to 14 games with another three-hit outing in the nightcap, as the second baseman posted three singles and came around to score all three times. Jones helped herself by going 2-for-3 at the plate and driving in two runs, while Cason added a run-scoring double and a run-scoring single in the nightcap. Freshman catcher Cailah Niles was 1-for-3 with two RBI and sophomore Courtney Czentnar saw her 10-game hitting streak halted in the opener, but bounced back with a two-run single in the second game.

Jones, who entered Tuesday's contest with one shutout on the season, posted the unofficial 15th perfect game in the NCAA this season by striking out five over five innings of work. The hard-throwing right-hander's perfect afternoon was in danger once, as she went to a full count on Tusculum's Alix Kruel with one out in the fourth inning before fanning her fifth batter.

The Trojan offense provided Jones with all the offense she needed in the top of the first inning. Neidigh opened the game by pulling a single through the right side and scored on Jones' two-out infield single.

Timely two-out hitting in the third frame again propelled Anderson to a big inning, as the Trojans batted around and scored four unearned runs. Czentnar's two-run single highlighted AU's four-hit attack.

The Trojans broke the game open by adding three additional runs on four hits in the fourth inning, with Niles' two-run double - her seventh of the season - headlining the scoring.

Anderson returns to the diamond on Friday, when the Trojans head to Salisbury, N.C. to tangle with Catawba in a conference matchup, with AU wrapping up its longest road swing of the year with a nonconference doubleheader at Winston-Salem State on Saturday.