JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman pounded out 24 runs on 29 hits picking up 11-4 and 13-9 victories in a doubleheader sweep against Anderson Friday afternoon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex to pick up its first two South Atlantic Conference victories of 2017.
"We are very pleased to get two games in conference play," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "We have an experienced team that has been through it before. We have come back in games even in games that we lost. We have some talent and you expect it to happen at some point. It was good for us to battle the way we did against what I thought were really good arms."
Eight players on the C-N roster had at least two hits on the day as Cade Snapp (Seymour, Tenn.) led all players by going 7-for-9 with a home run and four driven in. Brett Langhorne (Mechiancsville, Va.) drove in a team-high five runs on the day going 4-for-8 with his second long ball of the year.
Carson-Newman (10-12, 2-3) picks up a series win at home against Anderson (5-17, 1-7) for the first time since 2011 while handing the Trojans their ninth straight loss.
Game One: CARSON-NEWMAN 11, Anderson 4
Anderson took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning on its first hit of the game. On a 3-2 pitch with two outs, designated hitter Carson Barrett drove a fastball over the wall in center field for his second home run of the year.
The Eagles sent 10 men to the plate and scored four times in the bottom of the third inning to take a 4-1 lead. The frame started with a ground out before an error by first baseman Dillon Carpenter allowed Jimmy Rice (Middlesex, N.J.) to reach first base. Ryan Addington (Cincinnati, Ohio) started a string of four straight hits with a bloop single to left-center field. Eric Lynch (Boonton, N.J.) slashed a pitch down the right-field line to score Rice. Paul Kirby (Goodlettsville, Tenn.) and Snapp served singles into center and right field respectively to produce to more runs. The scoring was capped by a two-out base hit into left field by Trever Lee (Garner, N.C.).
With one out in the top of the fifth inning, Stephen McKnight hammered his second home run of the year over the fence in center field on a 2-0 offering to make it a 4-2 contest. The Trojans loaded the bases with one out in the frame but Will Gardner (Morristown, Tenn.) produced a strikeout and a pop up to escape the jam and preserve the lead.
The visitors added another run in the top of the sixth inning as Barrett doubled to the wall in left-center field with one out. Jackson Strange singled and Barrett crossed the plate on a solid base hit to right field by McKnight making it a one-run game at 4-3.
Carson-Newman recorded its second four-run stanza of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning to stretch the lead to five runs at 8-3. Rice walked to begin the frame and after a pop out Lynch singled to right to put two on. Kirby drove a single to deep right field to score Rice. Snapp struck out swinging for the second out leading to an RBI double to right field by Greg Jones (Maryville, Tenn.). Gooch Greer (Dickson, Tenn.) struck out but reached first on a dropped third strike to score Kirby and a wild pitch plated Jones.
The Eagles extended their lead to eight runs in the bottom of the eighth inning as Jones singled through the right side of a drawn-in infield to score Kirby. Langhorne slapped a single into left-center field to score a pair with two outs.
The Trojans scored a run in the top of the ninth inning on an RBI triple to center field by Dillon Carpenter to make it an 11-4 deficit.
Gardner (2-1) worked a career-high seven innings scattering 10 hits while punching out six and allowing three earned runs on one walk and two hit batters.
Lynch, Kirby and Snapp all went 3-for-5 in the contest scoring six runs and driving in four as a group while Jones went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Carpenter went 3-for-5 with a run drive in while Miller, Barrett and McKnight each had a pair of knocks on the day.
Game Two: CARSON-NEWMAN 13, Anderson 9
A ground out started the game before Avery Green drew a walk and William Thomas placed a single into right field. A fielding error by Snapp on the single allowed the runners to move into second and third base. Barrett punched a sacrifice fly to left field to score Green to put Anderson ahead 1-0.
C-N answered with a run in the bottom of the second inning as Snapp started the frame with a base hit into shallow right field, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a sacrifice fly to right field to even the tally at one.
The top of the third started with a fly out to center field before the Trojans loaded bases. Miller crossed the plate on a fielder's choice ground out and Thomas scored on a solid single into left field by Carpenter to make it a 3-1 lead for Anderson.
The first two men walked to start the bottom of the third when Snapp cranked a three-run blast deep over the left-field wall to put the Eagles ahead 4-3. The next two batters were retired when Greer doubled on a ball misplayed in the infield. A hit batter and a single to left field by Rice scored Greer to stretch the lead to two runs.
"I got a fastball first pitch and missed it," Snapp said. "I got a curveball and swung in the dirt. I knew he was going to try to beat me with his fastball because he didn't want to throw anything in the dirt with runners on base. I was just timed up and ready to go."
In the top of the fourth inning, Anderson pushed four runs across to go on top 7-5. Patrick had an RBI double and Thomas drove in a run with a base hit to left field. Barrett capped the stanza with a two-run double to the wall in the right-center field alley.
Carson-Newman scored six times in the bottom of the fourth inning sending nine men to the plate for the second consecutive frame. Chris Ayers loaded the bases by hitting the first batter of the frame and allowing back-to-back singles. Lynch walked on an 11-pitch plate appearance to score a run. A hit batter and a passed ball allowed two more runs to score. Following a strikeout, Langhorne launched a three-run homer to straightaway center field to put C-N ahead 11-7.
Carpenter hit a two-run double in the top of the sixth inning and Addington responded with a two-run triple to left-center in the bottom half of the frame to make it a 13-9 game.
Snapp went 4-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored while Langhorne finished the day by going 3-for-4 with three RBIs.
Thomas went 3-for-3 with three runs scored while Carpenter tallied two hits and three runs scored on the afternoon.
The two programs finish the series Saturday afternoon at noon with the game broadcast on cneagles.com/live with both audio and videos streams available on the Eagle Sports Network starting at 11:45 a.m.
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