JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman put the lead-off man aboard five times but left 10 men on base seeing its six-game winning streak come to an end in a 4-2 setback to Shorter on Wednesday at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
"I would say non-competitive at bats," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "It didn't have the feel of a weekend series. There was poor body language on some guys when things didn't go well. The kid did a great job but we didn't recognize that stuff at all. Whether he disguises it exceptionally well or that changeup was as good as any big leaguers. I don't know which one it was. I thought we had some poor at bats."
The Eagles lose for the fifth straight meeting to the Hawks as Shorter (18-15) levels the all-time series at six. Carson-Newman (22-16) had won six in a row, its longest winning streak since March 2021, before Wednesday's contest.
Shorter produced three straight hits to open the game as Lyndon Weaver laced a ball into the alley in right-center field but after a run scored a good relay from the Eagles threw out a runner at the plate by a half of a step to keep the deficit at 1-0.
With two outs and Jordan Griffin (Ellerslie, Ga.) at first base, the senior stole second base before Spencer Bright (Iron Station, N.C.) ripped an RBI single into left-center field to score Griffin and knot the tally at one apiece.
Jacob Pajer drew a walk to lead off the fifth inning but was still there with two outs before Cory Mason laced a 1-2 pitch into the left-center field alley to put the Hawks back on top. Mason scored after a throwing error bounced over the fence to put the visitors on top 3-1.
Logan Stockton cranked an 0-2 pitch over the wall in left field for his first home run of the year to push the margin out to 4-1. It was his fifth hit against the Eagles this year with only four against other clubs.
Once again in the eighth inning, a lead-off walk and a dropped fly ball put the first two men on base. The Eagles could only muster one run on a ground out by Micah Genter (Jasper, Tenn.). C-N went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position for the game.
Jonathan Pintaro, the team's Friday starting pitcher, recorded the final four outs retiring in the side in order in the ninth to secure his first save of the year. Pajer reached base safely four times going 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
The Orange and Blue mustered eight total hits in the game with Henry Jackson (Waxhaw, N.C.) and Bright each posting a pair of knocks in the loss.
The Eagles hop back into South Atlantic Conference play making the short journey to Greeneville to face Tusculum in the first of a three-game series against Tusculum. All three games will feature an audio stream on the Eagle Sports Network by visiting cneagles.com/live.
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