GAFFNEY, S.C. – In his first career appearance, freshman starter
Payton MacPherson (Cumming, Ga.) tossed a complete-game, two-hit shutout in the nightcap to help the Limestone College baseball team split a pair with Carson-Newman University on Saturday, February 2 at Founders FCU Stadium.
GAME 1 INFORMATION
Score: Carson-Newman 19, Limestone 7
Records: Carson-Newman (2-0), Limestone (0-2)
Location: Founders FCU Stadium
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- Senior John Staab (Cockeysville, Md.) doubled twice for the Saints
- Senior Channing Painton (Marietta, Ga.) chipped in a pair of hits and an RBI
- Junior Trace Whetsell (Gilbert, S.C.) finished with a base hit and an RBI
- Senior Cody Harris (Pembroke, N.C.) tallied a pinch-hit RBI double
- Junior starter Marcus Johnson (Lexington, Ky.) was roughed up in his first start, allowing eight runs – six earned – on six hits over 1.1 innings
- Carson-Newman batted around three times, pounding out 19 hits on the afternoon
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Eagles surged out of the gates, batting around for five runs in the top of the first before adding four more in the second to take a commanding 9-0 lead. Limestone had a chance to get on the board in the first after the two batters reached, but a pair of strikeouts on six straight pitches ended the threat.
With one gone in the home half of the second, the Saints got two of those runs back as Painton capped a string of three straight singles with an RBI base knock to leftfield. Whetsell would then close the Limestone deficit to 9-2 as he lifted a high fly ball to left-centerfield for a sacrifice fly.
The Blue and Gold pushed across another run in the third, trimming the margin to 9-3 on a fielding error, but Carson-Newman batted around again in the top of the fourth to put the game out of reach. The visitors sent 11 men to the dish and scored six runs in the frame to make it a 14-3 game.
The Eagles batted around for a third time in the game, platting four more runs in the top of the sixth to extend the cushion to 19-3. Limestone strung together four late runs, highlighted by an RBI double from Harris in the bottom of the sixth, but the lead was too large to overcome as C-N claimed game one.
GAME 2 INFORMATION
Score: Limestone 3, Carson-Newman 0
Records: Limestone (1-2), Carson-Newman (2-1)
Location: Founders FCU Stadium
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- MacPherson went this distance, scatting just two hits over seven innings of work
- He struck out six while giving up just a pair of walks
- Junior Matt Hilderbrandt (Bowmanville, Ontario) finished with a hit and an RBI
- Junior Alex Cornell (Columbia, Conn.) added an RBI sacrifice fly
- Senior Ryan Creps (Indiana, Pa.) chipped in an RBI
- Whetsell doubled to extend his hit streak to five straight games
HOW IT HAPPENED
A leadoff walk by Whetsell and a single back up the middle by junior
Josh Evans (Indian Land, S.C.) put runners on the corners for the Saints in the bottom of the first. Creps then gave Limestone a 1-0 lead after sending an RBI groundout to second base on a hit-and-run – his first RBI of the season.
Working with a one-run cushion, MacPherson retired nine of the next 10 batters – highlighted by a diving catch in foul territory by senior
Chase Allen (Sharpsburg, Ga.) on a bunt attempt – before the Eagles broke up his no-hit bid with a leadoff double in the top of the fifth inning.
However, the freshman worked out of the jam by getting the lead runner on a bunt try before inducing an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play. The Saints put up two insurance runs in the home half of the sixth on an RBI single by Hilderbrandt and a sac fly by Cornell, and then MacPherson worked around a two-out single in the seventh by striking out the final batter to close out the 3-0 shutout win.
UP NEXT
Limestone will look to force a series split when its hosts Carson-Newman in the finale of a four-game set on Sunday, February 3 at Founders FCU Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
