JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman’s Mills Rogers (Simpsonville, S.C.) homered twice and doubled in his final three at-bats as the Eagles pulled away to beat visiting King College, 11-2, on Monday afternoon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
With the win, its 11th straight, Carson-Newman improves to 24-8 overall. King falls to 14-9 on the season.
Rogers, who struck out in his first three at-bats, bounced back to drill a three-run home run off of King starter Zack Winkle to break a 1-1 tie in the sixth.
The senior ripped a two-out line drive over the left centerfield fence to plate Tyler Davis (Carrollton, Ga.) and Evan Patterson (Knoxville, Tenn.), both of whom singled in the inning, as the Eagles took a 4-1 lead. He would add a solo home run to lead off the eighth and a double, which caromed off the top of the wall, in the ninth to finish the day 3-for-6 with four RBIs.
Rogers’ offensive rally overshadowed a third-straight dominant outing by the Eagles’ pitching staff.
Four Eagle pitchers combined to strike out a season-high 16 Tornado batters, while allowing only three hits.
As a staff, C-N has allowed only two runs and five hits in its last 20 innings of work.
Starter Austin Bridgewater (Morristown, Tenn.) struck out eight in four innings of shutout work. He allowed only a single. True freshman Ryan Fillers (Greeneville, Tenn.) picked up his first career win, allowing a solo home run in two innings of work. He struck out three.
Junior Chase Boruff (Knoxville, Tenn.) struck out three in two innings of work, while sophomore Dustin Dalton (Blaine, Tenn.) added two strikeouts in the ninth.
Davis and senior Jeff Lockwood (Knoxville, Tenn.) each added three hits on the day. Davis scored twice and drove in three runs, while Lockwood hit safely in his final three plate appearances.
As a team, Carson-Newman finished with 13 hits, but also stranded 13 runners.
King’s Joe Craven and Justin Reising had solo home runs to provide the Tornado offense.
Carson-Newman returns to action on Wednesday afternoon when it hosts Pfeiffer University. First pitch is at 3 p.m. in Jefferson City.
The Eagles will also host Mars Hill College on Friday evening at Tennessee Smokies Park in Kodak, Tenn at 6 p.m.
-C-N-
