Eagles burst for 11 runs on Mars Hill in largest win of season

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Eagles (12-9, 7-6 South Atlantic Conference) cranked out 14 hits in an 11-3 victory over the Mars Hill Lions (7-13, 6-7 SAC) Friday afternoon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.

"It was a good offensive day obviously with the amount of hits," head coach Tom Griffin said after the contest. "To measure the quality of the at-bat, we look at hard contact. I think we have done a good job of putting the ball in play with a little authority."

In the bottom of the first inning, junior right fielder Cody (Seymour, Tenn.) clubbed a home run for the fourth consecutive home game with a blast well over the fence in left field after Mars Hill starter Patrick Riehl walked two batters with one out. The home run for Fox was his fifth of the season to give the home team a 3-0 lead after a frame.

Carson-Newman added to its lead in the next stanza when sophomore third basemen Brandon Roberts doubled to left-center field to begin the second inning. After moving to third base on a sacrifice bunt, Roberts scored on a wild pitch to make it a 4-0 game.

Eagle starting pitcher, junior right-hander Quinton Yocom (Cable, Ohio) had retired seven straight batters until left fielder Phillip Carroll doubled to left field. Two batters later, designated hitter David King slapped a single into right field to make it a 4-1 game. Yocom stranded the bases loaded in the inning inducing a ground out.

The Eagles offense exploded for a season-best seven-run inning in the bottom of the fifth as the home club sent 11 men to the plate. Three straight singles began the frame with a RBI single from Fox that scored senior second basemen Peter Rajkovich (Stockton, Calif.). After a sacrifice fly plated junior left fielder Bo Ausmus (Jefferson City, Tenn.), Roberts laced a single to left field to make it a 7-1 Eagle lead. With two runners on, sophomore catcher Gooch Greer (Dickson, Tenn.) launched his first career home run on a 0-1 pitch well over the left field fence. It was the first hit by the catcher since February 8. The Eagles added another run to go on top 11-1.

"It was very encouraging to put up a crooked number not only early but later on," Griffin said of the two big innings. "We feel we are capable of doing that more times than not."

In the top of the eighth inning, Mars Hill put the first six men on base, but could only muster two runs against the Eagle bullpen as they stranded the bases loaded again. In the contest, Mars Hill left nine runners on base.

Four different hitters notched multi-hit games for the Eagles led by three hits each from Rajkovich and Fox. The 11 runs tied the season-high by the Eagles and the eight-run victory was the most lop-sided win of the season for Carson-Newman.

Yocom matched a career-high with eight strikeouts as he worked seven innings while allowing nine hits with two walks and an earned run. The junior pitcher snapped a personal two-game losing streak as Yocom improved to 2-2.

"Hitting is all about confidence," Griffin said of how this game may impact his team. "We certainly had a lot of guys have good games today that we hope they will be able to feed off of and that's what hitting is all about: feeding off of your next at-bat."

Carson-Newman and Mars Hill will play a twin-bill Saturday afternoon with the first pitch in game one scheduled to be tossed at noon. The Eagle Sports Network will be on the air at 11:50 a.m. with a free video stream on cneagles.com/live.

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