NEWBERRY, S.C. – Carson-Newman lost its eighth consecutive road game as Newberry picked up final at-bats 8-5 and 2-1 triumphs over the Eagles Saturday afternoon to finish a South Atlantic Conference series sweep at the Smith Road Complex.
"There are a lot of factors," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "We could go through a thousand of factors and why things happen the way they do right now. I'm disappointed for the coaches and I'm disappointed for the kids. It's a good group of kids. They train well and are good people. We just aren't a good baseball team and that's indicative of the coach. I have to figure out what to do to get them to play to the best of their abilities. We are making way too many mistakes."
Newberry (16-12, 5-4) has swept Carson-Newman (10-16, 2-7) three times over the last four series played at the Smith Road Complex winning seven straight home games against the Eagles with the lone win for C-N in that span coming in 2013.
Game One: NEWBERRY 8, Carson-Newman 5
Carson-Newman starting pitcher Robert Plohr (O'Fallon, Mo.) retired the first two men of the first inning before giving up back-to-back singles and a walk to load the bases. Jeff Sneed slapped a base hit in the hole in the right side of the C-N infield into right field to score two runs and put Newberry on top 2-0.
The Eagles punched back in the top of the second with a pair to tie the contest at two. Greg Jones (Maryville, Tenn.) bounced a single into left field to begin the frame, moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on a ground out to second base. Trever Lee (Garner, N.C.) dropped down a squeeze bunt out towards second base to score Jones. Brett Langhorne (Mechiancsville, Va.) extended his hitting streak to six games with an RBI double into the gap in right-center field.
Plohr was faced with another two-out jam in the bottom of the second. With runners at first and second base, Derek Olenchuk laced a double to the gap in left-center field to score a pair. Daymon Totherow added another run with a base hit back up the box to make it a 5-2 Newberry edge.
Newberry starter Josh Stempihar had not walked a batter in 19 innings before allow free passes to Lee and Langhorne in the top of the fourth. With two down, Ryan Addington (Cincinnati, Ohio) ripped a two-run double to the wall in left-center field to pull C-N within a run at 5-4.
Paul Kirby (Goodlettsville, Tenn.) was at first base with two outs in the top of the fifth. Kirby was on the move on a 2-1 pitch to Eric Lynch (Boonton, N.J.) as the senior sliced a double down the right field line to score Kirby and knot the affair at five.
After a punch out started the eighth frame, a single from Sneed and a double to the wall in left field by Ben Herring put the Wolves ahead 6-5. Two men were on base with two outs when Robert Kosch slapped a single just out of the reach of a diving Addington in left-center field to plate two runs and stretch the lead to 8-5.
The Eagles notched just one hit, a double from Cade Snapp (Seymour, Tenn.) in the seventh, over the final four innings of play. Snapp went 3-for-4 on the day as the club produced eight hits.
Four Wolves produced a multi-hit effort led by Totherow going 3-for-4 with an RBI and Olenchuk registering a 2-for-5 day with a pair of runs knocked in.
Grant Rabbitts (Johnson City, Tenn.) tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings of relief punching out a pair and allowing just two hits.
Tristan Smaltz (1-0) picked up the win for Newberry going 3 1/3 scoreless stanzas out of the bullpen with a couple K's.
Game Two: NEWBERRY 2, Carson-Newman 1
Lynch and Ethan Goforth (Blacksburg, Va.) singled to right field with one out in the top of the second inning. Following a strikeout, Langhorne hooked a double down the right-field line to score Lynch and put the Eagles ahead 1-0. C-N left the bases loaded in the stanza.
The Wolves loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the third inning. Tommy Passerello scored as Danton Hyman hit into a 6-4-3 double play to pull the schools into a deadlock at one apiece.
The Eagles turned three double plays and threw out two runners at the plate in the game entering the bottom of the seventh inning. Herring flew out to left field to open the inning. A walk to Tommy Passerello and an error at second base put two on. A ground out to first base prompted an intentional walk to load the bases with two outs. Carson-Newman starting pitcher Ryan Eberle (Cookeville, Tenn.) missed just outside on a 3-2 offering to walk in the game's winning run to seal a 2-1 victory for Newberry.
Eberle working a season-high 6 2/3 innings allowing two unearned runs on four hits, a career-high eight walks while striking out three to move 1-4 on the year.
Hunter Hill (3-2) earned the win in the relief retiring all four batters he faced after Evan Estridge scattered eight hits and a walk in 5 2/3 innings.
Griffin's group outhit the Wolves 8-4 but three errors and seven runners left on base by the visiting team kept Newberry in the game.
The Eagles head back to Mossy Creek for four games next week Belmont Abbey slides to the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex on Wednesday. First pitch for the contest starts at 3 p.m. as the Eagle Sports Network hits the air starting at 2:45 p.m. on cneagles.com/live.
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