BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The Transylvania University baseball team split a pair of games on its opening day, winning their season opener over Greenville College 2-0 before dropping the nightcap to host and #8 ranked Birmingham Southern College 8-0.

In the first game, pitching reigned supreme for the Pioneers, who rode seniors Trey Simpson and Matt Birkenhauer to a two-hit shutout. Simpson got the nod for the start and worked a strong 6.2 innings, allowing two hits and striking out four en route to picking up the victory. Birkenhauer closed the game strongly, conceding no hits in the final 2.2 innings to earn his first save of the season.

Offensively, the Pioneers recorded only four hits, one each from third baseman Rex Rogers, shortstop Jared Williams, right fielder Connor Blevins and second baseman Kody Ross.  The hits from Rogers and Ross came at big moments, each driving in a run.

In the second inning, Blevins led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from left fielder Hunter jones. Ross drove a hard hit groundball through the middle of the field, bringing Blevins in to score to put the Pioneers a 1-0 lead. Transy followed up in the bottom of the third after a one-out walk from Simpson and steal of second base put a runner in scoring position for Rogers. Rogers lined a single to center and Simpson walked into home to give Transylvania a two-run cushion.

The lead was all the Pioneers needed as Simpson continued to work a gem, retiring six straight batters.

Simpson found himself in a jam in the top of the sixth inning, however after a hit batter, walk and single loaded the bases with one out. He worked his way out, however, by forcing a ground ball, which the Transy defense converted on of their four double plays on the day.

In the top of the seventh, Greenville managed to get two runners into scoring position, but Birkenhauer came in and shut the door, recording a strikeout and forcing a pop up to right to end the scoring threat. Birkenhauer allowed just one base runner over the closing innings, but another double play by the Pioneers' defense completed the victory for Transy.

In the second game of the day, pitching again dominated for the first four and a half innings as junior Adam Boone toed the rubber for the Pioneers. After a first inning run, Boone held Birmingham Southern scoreless for three innings.

Trailing 1-0 entering the bottom of the fifth, Transylvania allowed two more runs on three BSC hits to take a 3-0 advantage. The Panthers would tack on three more in the sixth and two in the seventh for an 8-0 margin entering the final two innings of play. The Pioneers' offense, which had been stymied all night failed to mount a comeback and Transy took their first loss of the young season.

"This was a good barometer for us as a team early on to see where we stand," said head coach Chris Campbell. "We saw a lot of good things today and some not so good things as well. Heading into tomorrow's game and the rest of the season, we know what adjustments we need to make. If we can make those adjustments quickly, this team can be very successful."

Transylvania (1-1) returns to the field tomorrow at 12:00pm against Birmingham Southern. Senior Kameron Schwartz will get the start on the mound for the Pioneers.