GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - The Anderson softball team ended a nine-day layoff by dropping a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader to league-leading Tusculum, 9-1 and 8-0, Saturday afternoon at Red Edmonds Field.

Tusculum (26-9, 7-1 SAC), ranked eighth in the NCAA's Southeast Region, claimed its' fourth straight win and has won eight of its' last nine outings, while Anderson (19-12, 1-5 SAC) suffered its' fifth consecutive setback.

Game 1: Tusculum 9, Anderson 1 (6 innings)
Anderson's Amber Duncan accounted for half of the Trojans' four hits with a pair of singles and hurler Alex Waldroup (3-2) gave up seven runs on five hits and six walks over four innings while striking out five, while absorbing the loss.

Tusculum's Lindsey Umberger singled twice and tripled, while Taylor MacDonald and Brooklyn Cress each had two hits and scored a pair of runs. Erin Searcy (12-7) scattered four hits and struck out six to earn the victory for the Pioneers.

Tusculum opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the first against Waldroup, as MacDonald led off with a double, took third on a passed ball and scored on a single to right by Umberger. The Pioneers capitalized on Waldroup's control issues to score five runs on two hits and four walks. TC's Katie Brennan led off with a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice by Paige Sneed. Cress followed with an infield single to short, and Brennan scored as the throw got away at first base to give the Pioneers a 2-0 lead.

After a strikeout, Waldroup issued consecutive walks to Savannah Ewing, Umberger and Ashley Burke to force home a run and extend the Tusculum lead to 3-0. Kimbrough then lined a 2-1 pitch just inside the left-field line to clear the bases and double the Pioneer advantage to 6-0.

Anderson scored its' lone run of the afternoon in the fourth on a run-scoring grounder by freshman Charlotte Sieber. Tusculum countered with a run in the bottom of the inning as Umberger tripled with one out and scored one batter later.

The Pioneers wrapped up the game in the bottom of the sixth with two runs off Trojan reliever Kelsey Davis. Cress, MacDonald, Ewing and Umberger reached on consecutive singles to open the inning, the latter two hits driving in the eighth and ninth runs of the game.


Game 2: Tusculum 8, Anderson 0 (6 innings)
Umberger drove in five of the Pioneers' eight runs, hitting her second triple of the day in the first inning to open the scoring and lining an opposite-field grand slam in the sixth to end the game due to the eight-run rule.

Elizabeth Johnson (13-2) tossed a two-hitter for her fourth shutout of the season, while AU's Casey Deer (12-9) pitched 5 1/3 innings for the Trojans, allowing eight earned runs on 12 hits while walking two and striking out eight.

Umberger finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored for the Pioneers, while MacDonald went 2-for-4 with a run scored and Burke was 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored.

Tusculum scored twice in the bottom of the first to open the scoring, as MacDonald singled to left to lead off and came around on a triple to the center field fence by Umberger. Burke followed with a single to right to plate Umberger and give the Pioneers a 2-0 lead.

In the third, the Pioneers tacked on two more runs as Burke walked with one out and moved to third on a double by Stuckwish. Brennan followed with a blooper to the right side that fell in and bounced away from the Anderson second baseman, allowing Burke and Stuckwish to score for a 4-0 lead.

The Pioneers closed out the game in the sixth by loading the bases on pinch-hit singles from Kristin Cantrell and Lindsay Bridges and a single by Ewing. Umberger then lined the first pitch she saw over the fence in right for her first home run of the year and an 8-0 victory.

Anderson will have little time to rest, as Carson-Newman invades Smethers Field for a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Sunday afternoon.