GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - Strong pitching and timely hitting propelled the Tusculum softball team to the South Atlantic Conference regular-season championship, as the Pioneers swept Anderson, 2-0 and 4-3, in the final conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Red Edmonds Field.

In a battle between the top two teams in the league standings, Anderson slipped to 35-11 overall and 12-6 in the conference. The Trojans, who were picked to finish second in the preseason coaches' poll, will square off against seventh-seeded Wingate (27-18-1, 9-9 SAC) on Thursday at 2 p.m. in Salisbury, N.C., in the opening round of the conference tournament. The Trojans and Bulldogs split a pair of narrow one-run decisions at Smethers Field in late March.

Tusculum (29-16, 13-5 SAC), selected to finish fifth in the preseason coaches' poll, claimed the top seed in next week's eight-team conference tournament and will square off against No. 8 seed Lincoln Memorial in the first round.

Game #1
Tusculum 2, Anderson 0
Tusculum junior hurler Kelly King (13-6) tossed a four-hit shutout to lead the Pioneers to the win in game one, with the setback marking the first time the potent Trojan offense had been shut down since falling, 4-0, at Lenoir-Rhyne in early March. King scattered the four hits over seven full innings, while striking out two and walking one.

Anderson junior right-hander Bailey Smith slipped to 16-6 on the season, while surrendering just two earned runs. She issued one walk over six innings of work.

Junior Danielle Swygert notched a single and a walk for the Trojans, while Smith, freshman Molly Child, and junior Charlotte Sieber each added singles in the opener.

The Pioneers' Miranda Beeler led off the bottom of the third inning with an infield single and scored on Kaytlin Stroinski's double to left-center, giving Tusculum a 1-0 lead. TC added an insurance run in the sixth frame when Stroinski led off with a walk and scored on Katie Brennan's single to left-center.

Game #2
Tusculum 4, Anderson 3
Brennan, who was 0-for-2 in the nightcap, recorded a two-out, walk-off single to score freshman Carolyn Williamson from third with the winning run, as Tusculum completed the sweep.

Swygert reached base three times in four trips to the plate, while posting a pair of singles and a walk. Sophomore Bri Cason was also 2-for-3, with a pair of singles. Sieber recorded a two-run single in the fourth inning.

Bell (19-5) absorbed the loss for Anderson, after surrendering four runs (three earned) on 10 hits over 6 2/3 innings. The right-hander struck out three and walked one.

Elizabeth Johnson (13-10) earned the win for Tusculum, going 3 2/3 innings of relief. She walked three and struck out one.

The Pioneers again took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third on Nicole Ball's solo home run, but Anderson answered with a three-run fourth inning while sending eight batters to the plate. Junior catcher Laura Jansky led off the frame with a walk and moved to second on Cason's sacrifice bunt. Smith reached on an error and moved to third on Samantha Young's double to left-center, while Jansky crossed the plate to even the score. Sieber followed with her two-RBI single to left, bringing home both Smith and Young to give AU a 3-1 advantage.

Tusculum trimmed Anderson's lead to one with an unearned run in sixth and had the tying run at third and the go-ahead run at second, but Bell retired the Pioneers on a strikeout and as groundout to shortstop.

TC's Alix Kruel led off the home seventh inning with a single and Williamson doubled to right-center to even the score as Kruel crossed the plate. Beeler sacrificed Williamson to second and following a four-pitch walk to Stroinski, Lindsey Umberger bounced out to second, setting up Brennan's heroics.

Anderson wraps up the regular season by playing host to rival Erskine on Monday, with first-pitch set for 3 p.m. at Smethers Field.