JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Eight pitchers slowed down a red-hot Belmont Abbey offensive attack as Carson-Newman picked up a 4-3 victory over the Crusaders Wednesday afternoon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
"We talked earlier this week about trying to change some things up on the mound," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "It's one option to use your 'pen to get them in for an inning to change things up but you have to have seven or eight guys pitch well. That's a really good team. Offensively they are solid. We are extremely proud of them and we feel like we can exhale a little bit."
The victory for Carson-Newman (11-16) snaps a four-game losing streak while ending an eight-game winning streak for Belmont Abbey (18-12) that dated back to a 13-10 loss to North Greenville on March 4 as the club was averaging 11 runs per game during that stretch.
The first two batters were retired to start the game when Collin Rosenbaum launched a 2-0 pitch over the wall down the line in left field to open the scoring for Belmont Abbey at 1-0.
Carson-Newman squared the game at one in the bottom of the first inning. Ryan Addington (Cincinnati, Ohio) shoveled a base hit into left field to open the stanza, moved to second on a passed ball and to third on a fly out to right. Cade Snapp (Seymour, Tenn.) capped a 10-pitch at-bat with a RBI single through the left side of the infield to score Addington.
The Eagles took a 2-1 thanks to a two-out spurt in the bottom of the second inning. Brett Langhorne (Mechiancsville, Va.) drew a walk and scored on an RBI to the fence in left-center field by Jimmy Rice (Middlesex, N.J.) for Rice's fifth RBI of the year.
"All of the batters before me were seeing fastballs," Rice said. "Coach [Brandon] Roberts told me this guy is only throwing fastballs, go see it and attack it."
With one out and a runner at first base in the top of the fifth inning, Luke Cureton launched his third home run of the season over the wall in straightaway center field to put the Crusaders ahead 3-2.
Snapp had the green light on a 3-0 pitch with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning and did not miss it. The junior cranked a solo roundtripper over the left-field wall to equalize the score at three.
Dom Leo (Knoxville, Tenn.) notched his second hit of the season with one out in the bottom of the sixth with a double to left-center field. Langhorne extended his hitting streak to eight games with a solid knock into right field to put runners at the corners. Rice scored Leo with a sacrifice fly to left field to put the home club ahead 4-3.
Snapp and Kirby each tallied two hits on the day as Snapp and Rice drove in two runs apiece for the Eagles on the afternoon.
Raunel Perez (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) worked 1 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball to get the win and improve to 1-1 while Hunter Dodson (Huntersville, N.C.) struck out two batters in the ninth to earn his first career save.
Rosenbaum notched two hits and reached base safely three times on the afternoon as the Crusaders notched nine hits and stranded six base runners.
The Eagles get back to South Atlantic Conference action this weekend with the first of a three-game series on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. when Brevard rides to town. The Eagle Sports Network will have the broadcast coverage on cneagles.com/live beginning 15 minutes before first pitch.
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