WINGATE, N.C. – Tyler Thompson produced three multi-hit games in the series and Matt Bradley added another quality start but No. 22 Carson-Newman fell short falling 3-2 and 10-3 at Wingate in South Atlantic Conference play Saturday at Ron Christopher Stadium.
"Physically and mentally we weren't prepared for this weekend," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "Our bullpen wasn't good all weekend. Bradley did a nice job today especially after the first two innings. He rebounded, kept us in the game and gave us a good chance to win. We didn't play well yesterday and we addressed it as a team. We wanted to have a good attitude, good effort and do a better job handling adversity because we didn't do that yesterday. Today we were much better at that.
"It felt like we didn't respond the way they responded. Their bullpen shut us down and we couldn't hold the leads once we went to the bullpen. The back breaker yesterday was a pop up. It was the biggest play of the game. You have to give them credit for coming up with big hits and big pitches. Two things we never could do this weekend."
Carson-Newman (15-9, 10-6) was swept for the first time since No. 18 Catawba took three on March 16-17, 2018. The Eagles see their losing streak hit five games for the first time since dropping five in a row from March 6-16, 2015.
Wingate (18-7, 14-6) has won five consecutive series at home against C-N with wins in each of the last six games overall against the Eagles. In the four-game series, the Eagles went 6-for-25 with runners in scoring position.
Game One: Wingate 3, Carson-Newman 2 (7 Innings)
Wingate opened the scoring in the bottom of the first when Logan McNeely drove the first pitch he saw over the wall in left field with a runner aboard to get the home team rolling at 2-0.
Once again two-out hitting proved to be the difference in the second when Andrew McKay poked a ball through the middle of the infield to get a run in and put the Bulldogs on top 3-0.
Carson-Newman found an answer in the top of the third despite the first two batters striking out. Tyler Thompson (Gallatin, Tenn.) singled to left field and came in to score on triple to the left-center field alley by Gunnar Ricketts (Hixson, Tenn.) to get the Eagles on the board and trim the margin to 3-1.
Errors helped Griffin's group get a run closer in the top of the fourth. Kilian Daughtry (Simpsonville, S.C.) reached on a fielding error at shortstop working his way to third base with two outs. Charlie Brown (Sevierville, Tenn.) hit a grounder to short that was bobbled allowing Daughtry to touch home and make it a 3-2 game.
The left five on base in the game including four men in scoring position having runners at second and third in the third being unable to produce the hit to bring in the runners. C-N mustered only three hits, its second-lowest of any game this year.
Thompson led the way with two of those three knocks going 2-for-4 with a run scored with the team not drawing a base on balls.
Matt Bradley (Talbott, Tenn.) tallied his third quality start of the year going six innings allowing three earned runs on eight hits and two walks fanning four.
Hunter Dula picked up his third win of the year striking out 10 over seven stanzas giving up three hits, two runs, one of which was earned in his complete-game effort.
McCann Mellett continued his hot hitting against the Eagles going 3-for-3 with a run scored. Gehrig Christopher added three knocks in three trips to the dish.
Game Two: Wingate 10, Carson-Newman 3
The Eagles took the lead in their first at bat of the game. After a RBI ground out from Ricketts, Matt Parkinson (Whitesboro, N.Y.) flared a base hit down the left-field line to Ricketts home and give the club a 2-0 lead.
Two pitches into the second inning, Charlie Brown (Sevierville, Tenn.) extended the margin to 3-0 by crushing a solo home run to left field on a 1-0 offering giving the visiting unit a 3-0 edge.
After being shutout through three innings, Wingate tied the score in the fourth behind back-to-back home runs. Logan McNeely drove a 3-2 pitch to the batter's eye in center field and Michael Dansky followed four pitches later with a short to right to pull even at three.
A pair of singles and a hit batter loaded the bases for the Bulldogs in the fifth frame. A four-pitch bases loaded walk brought in the first run. After a punch out McNeely hit a sacrifice fly to right field. With the bases loaded again, a routine grounder to second base was bobbled allowing a run to score and put the finishing touches on a three-run inning and give Wingate a 6-3 lead.
With two outs and runners at first and second base, Dula looped a base hit into right field to get Andrew Motsinger in from second base and extend the margin to 7-3.
Jed Bryant helped to continue the scoring outburst in the bottom of the eighth inning slicing a ball into right field to bring in a pair on his three-bagger. He crossed the plate on a 6-4-3 double play getting the score to a 10-3 affair.
Thompson and Parkinson each produced a pair of hits as the Eagles recorded eight total on the afternoon. Griffin used five different pitchers in the game – each one allowed at least one run. Mason Mooney (San Jose, Calif.) was hit with the loss allowing six runs over four frames.
Four Bulldogs produced multi-hit efforts led by three hits apiece from Dansky and Mostinger. Bryant and McNeely each had three RBIs.
Brody McCullough fired 5 2/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen yielding a pair of hits striking out four to earn the win. Three relievers combined to pitch 7 2/3 scoreless frames of two-hit baseball.
In the series, the Bulldogs hit .383 as a team outscoring the Eagles 35-17 blasting nine home runs. Wingate's pitching staff walked three batters and fanned 29 over 32 innings of work limiting C-N to a .236 team batting average.
The Eagles return home to host Lincoln Memorial in a four-game series starting on Friday at noon from the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex. Each of the four affairs will air on cneagles.com/live by the production of the Eagle Sports Network.
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