BREVARD, N.C. – The Carson-Newman Eagles (5-3, 4-2 SAC) used a doubleheader sweep over the Brevard Tornados (7-4, 3-3 SAC) to get back over .500 in South Atlantic Conference play and into a four-way tie for second-place in the conference.
In game one, starting pitcher Vince Apicella (Dillsburg, Pa.) used a complete-game victory to win 3-1 and then the offense woke up for a 15-5 victory in seven innings in game two.
"Well, the key was Vince Apicella and Greg Jones, the work they did today in game one was outstanding. Vince was dominating and he set the tone," coach Tom Griffin said after the sweep. "He really cruised along, so I think that set the tone more than anything else.
Game two, again, Jamie came out, established a strike zone. And our hitters, it was good to see our guys break out a little bit. We haven't had a game like that."
Game One Recap: Carson-Newman 3, Brevard 1
Apicella tied the career-high he set last Saturday against Catawba with 13 strikeouts and went the full nine innings. Apicella allowed just two hits and walked five Tornados.
Apicella also picked up his second win of the season.
Sophomore Ryan Addington (Cincinnati, Ohio) led off the game with a triple down the right field line. The next batter up, Joe Tipton (Dandridge, Tenn.), hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score Addington and give the Eagles a 1-0 lead through a half inning.
After Brevard threatened to push a run across in the bottom of the first but Apicella held them scoreless. Carson-Newman struck back in the top half of the second. Freshman Joe Rotelli (Morganville, N.J.) and senior Evan Jurjevic (New Carisle, Ind.) walked to lead off the inning. Senior Bryan Everhart (Greeneville, Tenn.) singled to load the bases with no outs. Senior Cody Fox (Seymour, Tenn.) grounded into a double play, but Rotelli scored. Then the nine-hole hitter, third baseman Brandon Roberts (Davie, Fla.) singled up the middle to score Jurjevic and gave the Eagles a 3-1 lead through two innings.
Brevard pulled back a run in the bottom of the eighth. Leftfielder Christian Dix led off the inning with a single and he scored from first after a one-out double from Tornado leadoff hitter Brennan Allen to give Carson-Newman a 3-1 lead through eight complete innings.
Apicella sturck out all three Tornadoes in the bottom of the ninth to end the contest.
Senior Bo Ausmus (Jefferson City, Tenn.), Everhart and Fox all had two hits for Carson-Newman. The Eagles ended the name with nine hits.
Game Two Recap: Carson-Newman 15, Brevard 5
Senior catcher J.D. Cowart (Athens, Tenn.) hit a screamer through the legs of the Brevard third baseman Ryan Smith to score Jurjevic from third to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead midway through the second inning.
In the bottom of the second, starting pitcher Jamie Miller (Wardensville, W.V.) gave up a leadoff double to Smith and then shortstop Pat Quinn followed him with a single for runners on the corners with no outs. A tag out by Jurjevic, a groundout to Miller and a strikeout ended the Tornados' threat.
Roberts led off the top of the third with a no-doubt home run over the left field wall to push the Carson-Newman advantage to 2-0. Eight more runs came across in the inning as the Eagles hung a nine-spot on the board as C-N recorded eight hits. Nine consecutive reached base in the inning. Everhart, Jurjevic, Tipton, Cowart, Addington, Ausmus and Cade Snapp (Seymour, Tenn.) all recorded RBIs in the inning. The nine run, fifth-inning is the most runs Carson-Newman has scored in an inning since February 17th, 2010 against Pfeiffer in the fifith inning.
Brevard led off the bottom of the fifth with back-to-back doubles to put a run on the board and cut the Carson-Newman lead to 10-1.
In the top of the sixth, the Eagles led off the inning with three consecutive singles. A wild pitch scored Everhart and then Joey Selitto (Newton, N.J.) followed up with a single to score to push the lead to 12-1. Freshman Brett Hagenow (Knoxville, Tenn.) grounded into a fielder's choice that scored Mitch Trzeciak (Charlotte, Mich.) to make the score 13-1. Roberts then ended the scoring in the top of the sixth with his second home run of game as he put it in the same spot over the left field wall and C-N led 15-1.
Miller finished the day with five innings pitched, allowing just one run on six hits and striking out two. He recorded the first win of his C-N career.
Relief pitcher Michael Cogliano (Medford, N.J.) came on in relief of Miller in the sixth inning and allowed one run after allowing the first three batters he faced reached base in one inning of work. Senior Carson Bryant (Fletcher, N.C.) all three runs in the seven, but he recorded three outs to end the contest.
The Eagles accumulated 16 hits in the win.
Carson-Newman returns to the field Tuesday afternoon as they travel to the Shorter Hawks.
-CN_
