JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman pushed its winning streak to a season-high five games as Limestone stranded 12 men on base and went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position as the Eagles earned a 7-6 win Tuesday afternoon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
"That was a good club," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "Offensively it's really strong. They had been playing well. I think Chris [Wiley] and his staff do a great job having their guys prepared. We always have competitive games with them. I enjoy competing against them. The two-out hits are the things that win games. They don't always have to be hard-hit balls. I like the way our guys responded. I like the way our pitchers responded in some big situations."
With the win, Carson-Newman (15-16) is now a perfect 8-0 all-time at home against Limestone (18-14) while posting its longest winning streak of the season to get within one game of .500.
Limestone leadoff batter Garrett Lowery fell behind 0-1 and on the second pitch of the game, smacked a long fly ball over the wall in right-center field for his 16th home run of the season, the second-most in the nation, to put the Saints on top 1-0.
The Saints starting pitcher Robert Bamford had retired seven straight batters when Ryan Addington (Cincinnati, Ohio) bounced a bunt single in front of the plate. Joe Selitto (Newton, N.J.) laced a single down the left-field line to put two men on. Cade Snapp (Seymour, Tenn.) cranked the next pitch well over the fence in left field for his eighth home run of the year to put Carson-Newman ahead 3-1.
Matt Orth began the top of the fourth inning with his fifth home run of the season pounding a 1-0 offering over the wall in left-center field. The inning progressed for the visitors as C-N pitching loaded the bases with two outs before Brandon Etheridge drew a walk to score the game-tying run to pull the contest square at three.
The Eagles regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth as Greg Jones (Maryville, Tenn.) pounded the first pitch of the stanza over the wall in right to the left of the scoreboard to make it 4-3.
Addington tallied his second bunt single of the game pushing one out towards second base. After a fly out, Snapp singled to center field. Paul Kirby (Goodlettsville, Tenn.) slashed a double off of the left-center field fence to score Addington and Snapp and push the lead to 6-3.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Saints plated three runs to tie the score at six. Zach Piazza launched his 14th roundtripper of the season over the right-field wall. Two two-out singles and a walk loaded the bases for Ryan Creps. The left fielder slapped a two-run single to the wall in right field to equalize the game at six.
The first batter was retired in the last of the seventh as Addington laced a double into the gap in left-center field. Selitto grounded out to short for the second out of the frame. Snapp blooped a base hit into shallow right field to score a speeding Addington and put C-N back on top at 7-6.
"I knew a fastball was coming," Snapp said. "I was just going in there and saw a fastball. I was a little out in front of it, hit it off of the end of the bat. It happened to go over the second baseman so it was just that time. It felt pretty good."
Raunel Perez (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) earned his second win of the year working the final 2 1/3 innings of relief scattering four hits with two strikeouts.
Snapp finished the day with a line of 3-for-4 with four RBIs and a pair of runs scored while Addington had his second four-hit game of the year going 4-for-4 with three runs scored.
Every starter for Limestone had at least one hit while Brennan Strovink was the lone player to fail to reach base more than once on the day. Creps and Piazza each had three hits while Orth and Chase Allen had a pair of knocks.
The Eagles hit the road Wednesday afternoon to take on Shorter at 3 p.m. trying to snap an eight-game losing away streak. Mark Inserra will be with the club for the Eagle Sports Network providing the play-by-play coverage on cneagles.com/live starting 15 minutes before first pitch.
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