VIDEO: Michael Graves Interview
VIDEO: Brooklyn Lucero Interview
VIDEO: Santana Anderson Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (17-7, 4-0 SAC) mashed seven home runs in two games, scoring 23 runs in a doubleheader sweep over No. 23 Lincoln Memorial (17-8, 1-3 SAC), notching its seventh and eighth consecutive wins.
"The middle of the lineup is on fire," head coach Michael Graves said. "Early on, when we lost a few games, it seemed like the top of the lineup and the bottom of the lineup was doing a lot of good things, and it wasn't that the middle of the lineup wasn't hitting, they just weren't hitting together… Now, the whole group is on fire."
The Eagles earned an impressive comeback victory in game one, dealing the SAC's leader in wins, Halle Grace Patton, her second loss of 2025. In game two, C-N controlled early and didn't let off of the gas.
GAME ONE: Carson-Newman 11, No. 23 Lincoln Memorial 6
The first three Railsplitters reached in the top half of the first, loading the bases before Jordann Reagan scored the game's first runs on a two-RBI single to give LMU an early edge. A walk to follow loaded the bases again with no one out.
Syerra Rogers (Graysville, Tenn.) worked out of the jam, getting a force out at home on a fielder's choice before striking out the next two, tight roping out of a first inning in which LMU could've produced a crooked number.
Despite the first two Eagles striking out to start C-N's half of the first, Macauley Bailey (Cross Plains, Tenn.) cut into the early deficit with a solo home run, her eighth of the 2025 campaign.
LMU would push the lead back to two, as Gracie Palmer led off the frame with a solo home run. C-N went quietly in the second inning as the Railsplitters held the momentum after two.
Rogers held the Railsplitters scoreless in the third and the fourth, leaving the door open for C-N. After a Brooklyn Lucero (Loma, Colo.) single and a pair of walks to load the bases, Wynter Morris (Crozet, Va.) ripped a pinch-hit single to short, bringing the Eagles within one. Hayden Dye (Knoxville, Tenn.) scored the tying run on a sac fly, bringing C-N and LMU even for the first time.
Despite C-N's efforts, LMU had a response. With two outs in the top of the fifth, Alyssa Williams ripped a solo shot, Gracie Palmer scored one on an RBI double, and Anna Kate Reichter punched an RBI single to center to help LMU build its largest lead of the day at 6-3.
As has been the trend in C-N's winning streak, the Eagles were down, but not out. Syerra Rogers continued to do it all for C-N, blasting a two-run shot in the home half of the fifth to bring the deficit back to one.
Rogers then stranded two Railsplitters on base in the sixth, allowing C-N's offense to come to the plate down by just one.
Santana Anderson (Fairmont, N.C.) started the rally with a single, moving Macauley Bailey to second after a leadoff walk. Mari Robbins (Sweetwater, Tenn.) put the ball in play on a bunt, and an errant throw scored the tying run. With two aboard, Brooklyn Lucero cracked one over the centerfield wall, her first of three on the day, putting C-N in front with a three-run home run.
"I feel like lately I haven't been hitting the ball like I've wanted to," Lucero said. "Today, I was seeing it a little bit better. I was glad to be able to do that for the team and partake in some of our wins a little bit more."
With two outs in the frame, SieAnna Cameron (Alcoa, Tenn.) and Hayden Dye padded the lead with back-to-back RBI knocks, bringing the C-N lead to five runs after six innings.
Syerra Rogers slammed the door on the Railsplitters in the seventh, setting down all three hitters she saw with two punchouts to end the game.
With the win, Rogers earned her team-high seventh win and fifth complete game, allowing ten hits and six runs while striking out seven in a bend-don't-break performance.
Lincoln Memorial's Halle Grace Patton, the SAC's leader in wins, was dealt just her second loss, falling to 12-2 on the season. C-N got to Patton in her 5.2 innings in the circle, tallying eight earned runs on 14 hits against the Railsplitters' top arm.
GAME TWO: Carson-Newman 12, No. 23 Lincoln Memorial 3 (5)
For the second time, Lincoln Memorial was the first to strike. Hannah McMeen and Nicole Couvertiere ripped back-to-back RBI singles to give the Railsplitters their second first inning lead of the afternoon, leading 2-0.
C-N had an immediate answer, as Hayden Dye and Macauley Bailey singled, before Santana Anderson scored Dye on an RBI single to bring the Eagles within one.
In the next at-bat, Brooklyn Lucero crushed her second three-run home run of the day to center, putting C-N in front, 4-2. Kennady Warder (Harrodsburg, Ky.) capped off a five-run first with an RBI single, as C-N held a three-run lead after the first.
Riley Sikes (Powell, Tenn.) dealt a scoreless second inning, allowing the C-N offense to get back to work. SieAnna Cameron and Hayden Dye reached to start the frame before Santana Anderson launched a no-doubter to dead center field, doubling C-N's lead. Brooklyn Lucero followed with a solo shot, stamping a four-run second inning.
"It was very exciting," Anderson said. "It's been a minute since I had made full contact with a ball… Just to be able to go up there and actually get the job done, it felt so good. When Brooklyn came up and was hitting the ball too, it made the team more hype."
Lincoln Memorial would get one in the third on a Hannah McMeen solo home run, but Lorelei Spradlin (Blacksburg, Va.) shut down the Railsplitters the rest of the way.
After a Brooklyn Lucero single and a Syerra Rogers double in the fourth, Kennady Warder put a stamp on C-N's stellar offensive day with a three-run home run, C-N's seventh of the afternoon to put the game in run-rule territory at 12-3.
C-N's seven home runs on Saturday brings the total season tally to 38, the best mark in Division II softball, ahead of Southern Wesleyan's 35.
Spradlin would earn her fifth win after a clean fifth inning, helping C-N secure its tenth run-rule victory of 2025. The freshman dealt the final 2.1 innings, allowing no hits and striking out three.
Three arms pitched for the Railsplitters, but Katie Fultz was dealt the loss, tossing one inning and allowing seven hits and six earned runs.
With the win, C-N takes an eight-game winning streak and a flawless mark in SAC play to Wingate on Wednesday before a Saturday doubleheader at Anderson.
For updates throughout the 2025 Carson-Newman softball season, visit cneagles.com and follow us on social media @cn_eagles.
