JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – In a pair of tight contests that came down to the final pitch, Carson-Newman earned a walk-off 3-2 win in game one before capping it with a 4-3 victory in game two to complete a four-game South Atlantic Conference sweep of Lincoln Memorial Saturday at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
"You know it's going to be tight all the way to the end," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "You are just hoping you are going to find something to get a spark whether it's a hit, a great defensive play or someone making a mistake on the other team. Fortunately we got that. Micah Genter did a nice job going backside to scrap a run across but you knew it was going to be one of those knuckles on the ground, man versus man."
Carson-Newman (19-9, 14-6) stretches its home winning streak to 13 in a row, the longest such mark since hitting that tally in 2010. The Eagles snapped an eight-series skid to Lincoln Memorial (11-20, 8-16) taking a series off of the 'Splitters for the first time since 2011. The Orange and Blue had never won a home series since LMU joined the SAC in 2007 tallying a 2-12 record prior to this weekend.
Tyler Shaver (Dandridge, Tenn.) led a strong weekend by the pitching staff striking out 13 batters over 5 2/3 inning pitching in two of the games. C-N racked up 39 punch outs on the weekend in 32 innings producing a 2.53 team earned run average.
"I really didn't deviate from my plan," Shaver said. "I knew they were a power hitting team and open swingers so I was trying to keep the ball away – fastball and slider away was really key and working this weekend. You get to watch the first half of the game and get the feel of the game and put the jitters away. You watch someone like Matt [Bradley] and watching what the hitters are doing against him so it's good for me to know what their strengths and weaknesses are."
At the plate, Kilian Daughtry (Simpsonville, S.C.) led the team's offensive effort with six hits and five RBIs adding a pair of stolen bases. Tyler Thompson (Gallatin, Tenn.) drove in four as seven different Eagles scored at least twice on the four-game set.
Game One: Carson-Newman 3, Lincoln Memorial 2 (7 innings)
With a runner at first base and two outs in the top of the third, Andrew Keene hit a fly ball down the left-field line that just missed a glove bouncing on the warning track to open the scoring and put the visitors on top 1-0.
Cameron Bowen added to the 'Splitters edge by blasting a 2-0 pitch over the wall in left field with one out in the fifth to put the Eagles in a 2-0 hole.
Carson-Newman lit the lamp for the first time in the fifth inning behind a walk and hit batter that started the inning. After a sacrifice bunt, Micah Genter (Jasper, Tenn.) grounded out to first base. Andrew Carpenter (Morristown, Tenn.) was caught between second and third and after LMU threw late to the plate to get the runner he hustled back to second base. Thompson drove a base hit to right-center field to tie the contest.
Matt Bradley (Talbott, Tenn.) buckled down in the sixth striking out two batters with runners at second and third base with one out. The senior finished the game with 6 1/3 innings of work allowing two earned runs on eight hits and three walks fanning seven.
Carpenter opened the bottom of the seventh inning with a chopping ball that snuck into left field advancing to second base on a sacrifice bunt. With the second baseman shifted up the middle, Genter dribbled a ball past his diving glove and into right field. The throw to the plate was just a fraction late allowing Carpenter to slide across home with the winning run.
Lincoln Memorial posted more hits than C-N at an 8-5 margin with Genter producing a pair of those knocks. Jake Wright (Ringgold, Ga.) earned the win stranding a runner at second base in the seventh with a ground out and a strikeout.
Bryce Woody registered a quality start firing six innings giving up two earned runs on three hits and a walk with a season-high five strikeouts. Brent Richey and Brandon Parrott each had two knocks to lead the offense.
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Game Two: Carson-Newman 4, Lincoln Memorial 3
The Eagles wasted no time to pick up an early lead scoring twice in the bottom of the first inning. Daughtry hit a sharp grounder wide of third base for a base hit to plate the game's first run. A ground out from Gunnar Ricketts (Hixson, Tenn.) pushed the lead out to 2-0.
Lincoln Memorial trimmed the margin in half getting a run on a failed pick-off attempt to first base as Tyler Adams ran home from third base. However, the 'Splitters stranded the bases loaded after filling them up with one out.
C-N manufactured a run in the fourth after a pair of walks, a passed ball and a wild pitch put men at second and third base with no one out. Thompson flew out to left field scoring Charlie Brown (Sevierville, Tenn.) stretching the margin to 3-1.
Matt Parkinson (Whitesboro, N.Y.) barreled a ball off of the fence in right-center field to start the bottom of the field inning. Two batters later, Zach Boze (Gallatin, Tenn.) rifled a single back up the box to bring in the senior pushing the lead out to 4-1.
Cameron Bowen drew a lead-off walk to kickstart an exhilarating ninth inning. Five pitches later on a 2-2 offering, Brent Richey cranked a two-run homer to left field to make it a one-run game. Following a fly out, Andrew Keene worked a walk. Kyle Cagle (Fairview, N.C.) was summoned from the bullpen. The lefty struck out Parrott but walked the next batter and because of two wild pitches the tying run stood at third base. DJ Alexander grounded into a fielder's choice to second base to seal the victory for the Eagles.
Cagle earned his first-career save getting the last two outs of the game as C-N's bullpen combined to fan eight batters in six stanzas of work.
"We were trying to piece some things to get us to Jake Wright," Griffin said. "That was plan. We limited the damage and guys made the pitches when they needed to. It was great to see Cagle. He has been in the program a while and it was great to see him overcome an injury to his arm and rehab back from it. You sit here and watch it and it's cool to see him have that success."
Once again, LMU produced more knocks with a 10-8 edge as Thompson was the lone Eagle with a two-hit outing but the club went 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position.
The Railsplitters stranded 13 men on base, the most yielded by the Eagles this year, including the bases loaded twice as they tallied only three hits in 12 tries with men in scoring position. Parrott led the way going 3-for-4 ending the weekend with nine hits in 12 at bats. The rest of the team mustered 21 pokes.
The Eagles finish up their home schedule next weekend when No. 20 and league-leading Tusculum swings by Mossy Creek for a four-game series starting Saturday at noon. All four games will air on the Eagle Sports Network by visiting cneagles.com/live.
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