NEWBERRY, S.C. – Carson-Newman (15-21, 11-11 South Atlantic Conference) got strong performances on the bump from starter Chris Armstrong (Blaine, Tenn.) and reliever Ryan Fillers (Greeneville, Tenn.) to take a 3-1 win over Newberry (23-18, 9-11 SAC) Friday evening at the Smith Road Complex.
Armstrong fired seven innings of one-run baseball before Fillers entered in the eighth and proceeded to strikeout half of the Wolves he faced. Fillers did not allow a baserunner in his two innings of relief.
Armstrong collected the win to move to 5-5. Fillers was credited with his fifth save.
"They did a really good job, they dominated," Carson-Newman head coach Tom Griffin said of the Eagles pitching. "Then defensively behind them we made all the routine plays and Armstrong got some big strikeouts in crucial situations."
Batters four through eight strung together the hits necessary for the Eagles to come out on top.
Carson-Newman jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second. With two out, Cody Fox (Seymour, Tenn.) was hit by a pitch before Kevin Franchetti (Highland, Ind.) knocked an infield single to the shortstop. Bryan Everhart (Greeneville, Tenn.) then ripped a 1-1 pitch into centerfield for a two-RBI, two-out double.
Newberry would counter with a run in the bottom of the frame on a Chas Goodwin double to left center. Wolves' batters would advance just two runners the rest of the game.
The Eagles added an insurance run in the eighth when Fox doubled to left center to drive in Joe Tipton (Dandridge, Tenn.) from second.
"We tried to be aggressive early on, but Everhart and Fox were just enormous for us in this game with those two out hits," Griffin said.
Newberry starter Jonathan Rosenberger was shackled with his first loss of the year (7-1). The sophomore tossed 100 pitches in his eight-inning start. He struck out five and only allowed one Eagle leadoff man to reach base.
While Rosenberger was effective in keeping the leadoff batter of the base paths, Armstrong and Fillers were effective at preventing Newberry from stringing together hits. Newberry was one-of-eight in RBI opportunities and went one-for-12 at the plate with runners on base.
The Eagle pitchers combined to walk three. Of the three they walked, only one advanced past the base they got on balls.
"Nobody had to make any great plays," Griffin said. "Everyone was able to make plays that they were capable of. There weren't any extra outs for them to work with offensively."
The Eagles resume their series with the Wolves Saturday at 1 p.m. with a doubleheader.
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