ANDERSON, S.C. – Coming back to take game one, Carson-Newman beat Anderson 5-3 before falling by the same score in the night cap at Spero Financial field in South Atlantic Conference play Monday evening in the Palmetto State.
"We are fortunate to get one," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "The baseball people were watching over us. We pitched it well all game with the exception of our starter in game two. Offensively we were not clicking today. We are shorthanded and we have to figure out how to generate runs going forward."
Carson-Newman (20-17, 12-5) has beaten Anderson (18-21, 7-10) in 15 of the last 22 meetings having not lost a series to the Trojans since 2014. The Eagles keep their road streak against the league in tack going on six years without losing a road slate.
Game One: CARSON-NEWMAN 5, Anderson 3
Each of the first three batters of the game reached for the Trojans with Brandon Gibbs tripling to right field to bring in the first run before scoring on a ground out to jump on top 2-0.
Back-to-back walks set the stage for the Eagles to take a 3-2 edge in the fourth. After a sacrifice bunt, Nelson Smith (Goodlettsville, Tenn.) put the Eagles on the board with a sacrifice fly to right field. With two outs, Zach Boze (Gallatin, Tenn.) hit a grounder to third base. A throwing error allowed two men to touch home.
Ben Willcoxon (Dandridge, Tenn.) singled to right field to start the fifth moving to second base on a throwing error and coming around to score on a two-out throwing error by the shortstop to extend the margin to 4-2.
After a ground out, Carlos Hernandez doubled scoring on a two-out two-bagger by Jordan Montgomery to left-center field to inch the home group within a run at 4-3.
The Eagles immediately got the run back when Aiden Gibson (Cleveland, Tenn.) dropped down a flawless squeeze bunt to bring in Ryan Potts (Dandridge, Tenn.) to push it back to a 5-3 lead.
Potts drew two walks and scored twice while the team tallied a total of five hits by five different players coming back from a multi-run deficit for the sixth time.
Carson-Newman's bullpen allowed one run on three hits in 4 1/3 innings fanning six batters with Jake Wright (Ringgold, Ga.) sitting down the final seven batters of the game.
Anderson notched nine knocks with Justin Fox and JC LeGrand each posting a pair of hits. Jackson Herring threw the final 5 1/3 innings giving up two runs, one earned on four hits and a walk.
Game Two: ANDERSON 5, Carson-Newman 3
Will Gibbs (Harrisburg, Ill.) flopped a base hit to left field with one out in the top of the first before scoring on a similar bloop to right field by Mitchell Balint (Avondale, Pa.) giving the club an early 1-0 edge.
Each of the first six Trojans hitters of the game tallied a hit scoring three runs before back-to-back sacrifice flies push Anderson's advantage to 5-1 after the opening inning.
Carson-Newman sliced the margin in half with two runs in the fifth frame getting a walk and a runner aboard on a throwing error. Following an RBI ground out, Balint laced a ball to the wall in left field with two outs to cut the tally to 5-3.
On the day, the Eagles went 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position compared to a 6-for-18 effort by the Trojans. Six of Anderson's eight hits in the night cap came with a runner aboard.
Balint went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and Willcoxon was on base twice. All five runs were pinned on starting pitcher Mason Mooney (San Jose, Calif.) with the bullpen recording all 18 outs yielding four base runners.
LeGrand posted a pair of triples in the effort as five different players scored a run. Austin Mercado allowed one earned run, three total runs over 5 2/3 innings.
The Eagles face off with Young Harris in the Peach State on Wednesday at 3 p.m. to wrap up the quick road swing.
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