HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Carson-Newman cranked out a season-high 16 hits scoring nine runs in its final four at bats to complete a three-game sweep of Alabama Huntsville in 11-9 fashion on Saturday at Charger Park to move to 4-0 on the season.
"It wasn't a clean game," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "We gave them opportunities and freebies but Hunter Harritan got himself out of a jam. Jake Wright got out of a jam with the tying run at third and no out. We got big hits all day long. Micah Genter was on base all day. The top of the order clutch with Jackson, Ricketts and Daughtry. We did enough to stay in the game and then put some crooked numbers up late to give us the lead. They had some Covid issues and injuries but that's a quality club and it's big for us to perform on the road the way we did."
Five Eagles tallied multi-hit afternoons for the Eagles led by career efforts from Henry Jackson (Waxhaw, N.C.) and Micah Genter (Jasper, Tenn.). Jackson finished the game with a 4-for-6 day with three RBIs and two runs scored. Genter went 4-for-5 with an RBI and three runs scored. It was the second time for each with a four-hit day.
Five hurlers combined to allow two earned runs over five frames out of the bullpen with Matt Coles (Winter Garden, Fla.) picking up his second win in four games and Jake Wright (Ringgold, Ga.) earning the save for a second straight contest.
Carson-Newman (4-0) is 4-0 for the second time in the last three years after opening 2020 with a 7-0 record. All told for the series, seven different players drove in multiple runs and 10 players touched home while the pitching staff gave up seven total extra-base hits in 25 innings. It was the team's first road sweep since sweeping Limestone in the opening series of 2020. s
The Eagles lit the lamp first right out of the gates. Gunnar Ricketts (Hixson, Tenn.) slapped a one-out single into center field, stole second base and moved to third on a base hit by Kilian Daughtry (Simpsonville, S.C.). A fielder's choice ground out brought in Ricketts to open a 1-0 edge.
It took two batters for Huntsville to pull even with Garrett Bodine drawing a walk and scoring on a double by Carson Villalta who ripped a 0-2 offering down the left-field line to level the tally at one.
Each team hit a lead-off homer in the third inning. Ricketts blasted the first long ball of the season for the Eagles crushing a 2-1 pitch over the fence in right field. Bodine answered by launching the first pitch he saw in the bottom half of the inning out of the park to left field to make it a 2-2 contest through the first third of the affair.
Two errors paved the way for the Chargers to get three runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 5-2 lead. A walk, a single and error loaded the bases before a run came across on a fielder's choice. After a sacrifice fly, another error brought in the third run of the frame.
Carson-Newman took advantage of Alabama Huntsville miscues to plate four runs and take the lead in the top of the sixth. A fielding error and a base hit put two men on for Jackson.The right-handed hitter hit a laser back up the box to start the scoring. Following a sacrifice fly, runners moved to second and third. Austin East threw a ball through the catcher's legs scoring two runs with Jackson hustling from second to put the Eagles ahead 6-5.
Back-to-back singles kickstarted a rally for the Chargers in the bottom of the sixth. However the Eagles induced a pop up and fly out to right field. With two outs, Villalta hit a fly ball to center that was dropped allowing two runs to come across and put the home club back on top 7-6.
In the top of the eighth, the Eagles regained the advantage doing so with two outs. With the tying run at second base, Genter lined a base hit back up the middle to tie the score. Jackson gave the visitors the lead back on a rocket in center field to score Genter and put C-N ahead 8-7.
Carson-Newman added three runs of insurance in the top of the ninth to swell the bulge to 11-7. Jackson got the ball rolling with a one-out RBI single into left field. After a Ricketts sacrifice fly, Daughtry smashed a ball to the wall in the right-center field alley.
Despite retiring the first two of the bottom of the ninth, a base hit and a two-run homer to left field by Daniel McCary on a 3-2 pitch cut the margin in half to 11-9 before Wright fanned Jeff Hunter on three pitches to seal the win.
Four players had two hits in the Chargers lineup with Villalta, Bodine and McCary driving in a pair of runs apiece. Alabama Huntsville used six pitchers with four giving up multiple runs. Payton Lemons took the loss giving up two runs recording two outs.
The Eagles return to the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex on Tuesday afternoon against No. 16 Lee for a 2 p.m. first pitch. Broadcast coverage airs on the Eagle Sports Network with audio and video streams available on cneagles.com/live.
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