AIKEN, S.C. – Noah Pridmore hurled six innings of one-run baseball against an all-region selection counterpart Friday evening at Roberto Hernandez Stadium but USC Aiken scored seven times against Carson-Newman's bullpen to win game one of the series 8-2.
Pridmore had never thrown more than four innings through his first 20 career appearances tossing 91 pitches over six frames giving up one earned run on four hits fanning three. The bullpen recorded six outs walking eight and allowing all seven runs in the seventh.
Carson-Newman (1-1) has now lost eight of the last 10 in the series with USC Aiken (1-0) falling to 27-12 in the all-time series. The Eagles were limited to three hits in the game after producing 14 in the season opener.
Trey Miller (Rocky Point, N.Y.) drew a walk to lead off the top of the third before stealing second and third base. With runners at the corners and two outs, the runner at first got caught in a run down allowing Miller to touch home and put the Eagles ahead 1-0.
After a ground out to start the fourth, James Denten (Mt. Prospect, Ill.) launched a 2-2 pitch deep into the twilight sky in right field for his first homer of the season pushing the margin to 2-0.
Aiken pulled a run back in the bottom of the sixth before taking the lead for the first time in the game in the bottom of the seventh. A walk and a hit by pitch put two runners aboard early in the inning. With two outs, Luke Parker sliced a ball into the corner in right field to plate a pair and put the home side ahead 3-2. Four of the next six batters drew walks with the other two getting hit by a pitch and singling to cap a seven-run seventh to put the Eagles into an 8-2 hole.
Ryan Potts (Dandridge, Tenn.) recorded two hits and Dalton McLain (Greeneville, Tenn.) walked twice as the only two Eagles to reach base multiple times on the day.
Joel Haney fired five frames giving up two earned runs on two hits and three walks. Evan Condon and Derek Espinoza struck out four over the final four innings.
James Eckert reached base all five times at the plate with three hits and two runs scored. Kaden Blankenship finished the evening 2-for-4 with two RBIs as one of three Pacers to knock in a pair.
The Eagles will try to bounce back on Saturday in game two of the series with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. from Roberto Hernandez Stadium.
