JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman hit three long balls producing eight runs to win a sixth game in-a-row, matching its second-longest winning streak of the year, in a 15-5 shellacking of Trevecca Nazarene Tuesday at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
"The score shouldn't dictate how we play or how we think," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "We play one pitch at a time. This weekend we did a pretty good job of that but had a couple lapses. We constantly want to remind them to be consistent every day. Don't have a step backwards. Let's keep moving forward.
"We have to stay in the present and don't worry about what we have going on this weekend. Enjoy Alan's home run. Enjoy the at-bats of Brendan Campbell and Cal Smith. Take in Tyler Hicks who has had an arm injury but realizes this may be the last time he gets on the mound. I want to do that more because that's really what this whole thing is all about."
In the game, Trevecca (20-17) pitching hit eight batters, the fourth-most in Division II this season and the first time that the Eagles were plunked at least five times since March 5, 2016 at Brevard, a span of 183 games and 1,137 days.
Carson-Newman (28-17) snaps Trevecca's 13-game road winning streak dating back to April 6, 2018 handing the Trojans their first road loss in nine tries on the year.
Eight different players had a hit and seven Eagles produced an RBI led by a grand slam from Tyler Thompson (Gallatin, Tenn.). Alan Silva (Sevierville, Tenn.) hit his first home run of his career in his 103rd at-bat.
"Honestly the first at-bat wasn't the best one," Silva said. "I tried to come back and have an approach to stay middle-back. The pitcher ended up throwing it inside so I turned on it and thankfully it went over the fence for my first home run of the year."
Fancy a grand slam?@TylerThompson47 brings in grand salami No. 4 on the season!
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) April 16, 2019
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The Eagles burst open with six runs in the bottom of the second stanza starting with a one-out home run by Jordan Griffin (Ellersie, Ga.) on the eighth pitch of his at-bat over the left-field wall for eighth bomb of the year. Two hit batters and two walks brought in a run with two outs and loaded the sacks. Thompson stepped to the plate and fell behind 1-2 before launching a grand slam over the wall in left field capping an inning where the team batted around.
Two more hit batters put a pair of runners on base with one out for Silva. The senior turned on the first offering cranking his first-career home run over the wall in left field. With two outs, Hal Bishop (Knoxville, Tenn.) lined an RBI single to left field to expand the bulge to 10-0.
First career homer ✅
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) April 16, 2019
Alan Silva brings in three runs with a rocket.
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A hit batter and a double put runners at second and third base for Trevecca in the fourth. Chander Miller drove in Sam Mang with a base hit to right field and a 5-4-3 double play scored John O'Dwyer pulled the visitors within eight at 10-2.
An RBI double from Dom Leo (Knoxville, Tenn.) and a two-out, two-run double from Ethan Goforth (Blacksburg, Va.) added three runs in the fourth to increase the difference to 13-2.
In the bottom of the fifth, a fielder's choice ground out and a line drive single to left field by Leo produced two more runs expanding the lead to 15-2.
The Trojans scored the final three runs of the game with a ground out in the sixth and back-to-back RBI singles from Bryant Goolsby and John Anderson in the seventh before the end of the game.
Luke Friedman (Gilbert, Ariz.) earned the win over four innings of work allowing two earned runs on five hits striking out three runs to improve to 2-1 on the year.
Genter went 2-for-2 with two walks and a run scored with Leo going 2-for-2 with two RBIs off of the bench. Sharpe also produced a two-hit game with two runs scored.
Goolsby and Miller tallied two hits each of the nine knocks on the day. Four of the five pitches gave up at least two earned runs for the Trojans.
The Eagles are back in action this weekend with a three-game set against Coker part of the Senior Weekend festivities. Rain may impact the outings but the first game is slated for Friday at 3 p.m.
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