Alex Cornell
Junior Alex Cornell went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs for Limestone in Sunday's series finale.
8
Winner Carson-Newman C-N 3-1
5
Limestone LC 1-3
Winner
Carson-Newman C-N
3-1
8
Final
5
Limestone LC
1-3
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Carson-Newman C-N 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 5 1 8 8 2
Limestone LC 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 5 9 1

W: Greg Valentine (1-0) L: Grooms, Alex (0-1) S: Matt Bradley (1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Ernest Meyers, Assistant A.D. for Media Relations

Limestone Falters Late, Eagles Take Series with 8-5 Decision

GAFFNEY, S.C. – Tied a 1-all through six innings, the Limestone College baseball team gave up seven runs over the final three frames, despite only allowing five hits in that span, as visiting Carson-Newman University took the series win with an 8-5 decision on Sunday, February 3 at Founders FCU Stadium.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Score: Carson-Newman 8, Limestone 5
Records: Carson-Newman (3-1), Limestone (1-3)
Location: Founders FCU Stadium
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
 
  • Junior Alex Cornell (Columbia, Conn.) went 2-for-4 with a double and a pair of RBIs
  • Junior Jeff Towle (Stony Brook, N.Y.) also doubled and drove in two runs
  • Senior Ryan Creps (Indiana, Pa.) chipped in a base knock and an RBI
  • Junior Josh Evans (Indian Land, S.C.) finished with a double
  • Junior Matt Hilderbrandt (Bowmanville, Ontario) singled and worked the team's only walk
  • Senior Alex Grooms (Kings Mountain, N.C.) allowed two runs over six innings to take the loss
  • Limestone pitching issued 12 walks while hitting three batters
  • On the flip side, Carson-Newman pitching allowed just one walk to go with 11 strikeouts
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Innings 1-3
 
Following a leadoff triple to start the day, Grooms worked out of the jam by retiring the next three batters quietly to strand the runner 90 feet away. The offense then staked him to a 1-0 lead in the bottom half as a one-out double by Evans scored all the way from second on a line drive sac fly to center by Creps.
 
However, the Eagles would pull even in the top of the second as Tyler Thompson hit an opposite-field solo homerun that bounced off the top of the wall and over the fence. Limestone got a pair of knocks in the bottom of the third, but the contest would remain knotted at one with three full innings in the books.
 
Innings 4-6
 
In the fourth, Grooms again worked out of trouble by stranding a pair of walks at the corners before Limestone put a runner on in the home half following a one-out single by Hilderbrandt. The Saints were unable to capitalize though as the next two batters struck out to keep things tied at one down the stretch.
 
Innings 7-9
 
Carson-Newman broke through with the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh, making it a 2-1 game without the benefit of a base hit in the frame. A hit batter started the inning before the Limestone staff issued three straight walks, including an eight-pitch, bases-loaded free pass that broke up the deadlock.
 
A leadoff walk would come back to haunt the Saints in the eighth as the Eagles followed up with an RBI triple to extend the margin. Two more walks in the decisive stanza proved costly as John Sharpe capped the five-run frame with a three-run blast over the leftfield wall to give the visitors a commanding 7-1 lead.
 
Trailing 8-1 in the bottom of the ninth, the Blue and Gold made things interesting after loading the bases as back-to-back two-run doubles by Cornell and Towle trimmed the lead to 8-5. That would the closest things would get, however, as Carson-Newman retired the final two batters with the tying run on-deck.
 
TURNING POINT
 
With the game knotted at 1-all in what had been a pitcher's duel through six innings, the Eagles broke through with the go-ahead run in the seventh despite not recording a base hit. Three more free passes in the eighth all came around to score in a decisive five-run frame as C-N picked up the series win.
 
NOTABLES
 
  • Limestone pitching issued 23 walks against the Carson-Newman in the four-game series
  • The Eagles scored 36 runs on seven homeruns and nine doubles over the weekend
  • At the plate, the Saints struck out 38 times while working only 14 walks
  • Junior Trace Whetsell (Gilbert, S.C.) extended his hit streak to six straight games
  • Hilderbrandt went 5-for-12 in the series with a homerun and two RBIs
 
UP NEXT
 
Limestone begins a four-game road trip when it travels to face a first-year program in Queens University of Charlotte on Tuesday, February 5 at 6 p.m. The game will be played at Intimidators Stadium, home of the Chicago White Sox Class-A affiliate Kannapolis Intimidators, in Kannapolis, N.C.   
 
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