VIDEO: Brett Langhorne Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman scored seven runs in the bottom of the eighth only to see Lenoir-Rhyne plate six runs in the top of the ninth as the Eagles staved off a comeback bid to win 11-8 in the first game of the three-game South Atlantic Conference series at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
"We won, bottom line," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "The bottom line is you have to win games – conference games. Sometimes they won't be pretty. You are going to have 10 penalties and fumble five times. Especially at this point in the year. Can we talk about executing certain things better? Absolutely. We can do that at another time but we want them to enjoy the win. They battled hard and worked hard to get that."
With the win, Carson-Newman (17-16, 6-7) is above .500 overall on the year while winning for the 34th time in 42 tries against Lenoir-Rhyne (18-14, 4-9) at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
Lenoir-Rhyne loaded the bases with one out in the top of the second inning on a single, a walk and a hit batter. A sacrifice fly to left field by Taylor Stewart scored David Newcomer to put the visiting club on top 1-0.
Thomas St. Clair struck out the first batter of the bottom of the fourth inning before Paul Kirby (Goodlettsville, Tenn.) drew a walk on nine pitches. Greg Jones (Maryville, Tenn.) dug in and cranked a 1-2 offering over the scoreboard in right field for his eighth home run of the season to put the Eagles on top 2-1.
With one out in the top of the sixth, Brett Langhorne (Mechiancsville, Va.) committed a throwing error and Cole Fowler doubled down the right-field line. Mo Foster (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) entered the game and walked back-to-back batters on nine pitches to allow the tying run to score.
St. Clair retired the first two batters in the last of the sixth. Brendan Campbell (Yardley, Pa.) slid a single into center field and moved to second base on a passed ball. Trever Lee (Garner, N.C.) punched 1-2 pitch into right field to score Campbell and put the home club back on top at 3-2.
The first batter was retired in C-N's half of the seventh inning when Eric Lynch launched his first home run in 141 at-bats and his second career dinger over the left-center field fence to make it 4-2.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Eagles scored seven times on just three hits as L-R walked two batters and committed three errors in the stanza. Lee singled to center field with one out and scored on Langhorne's third home run of the year as the junior sent a 2-1 pitch over the wall in the left field. Back-to-back walks and then three straight errors from the Bears produced two runs. Jones tallied a sacrifice fly to right field. The scoring was capped by a two-run double down the left-field line by Graham Warren (Franklin, Tenn.) to make it 11-2.
Lenoir-Rhyne responded with six runs in to top of the ninth inning sending 10 men to the plate. Thhe first two batters walked and a single to right field by Josh Kent loaded the bases. Following a punch out, Brandon Lam roped a two-run double to the wall in left field. Hunter Jackson drove in a run on a ground out to shortstop. A walk and a dropped third strike kept the game alive. Alex Reynolds laced a two-run double down the line in left field. A balk allowed the game's final run to score to make it 11-8. Hunter Dodson (Huntersville, N.C.) struck out Zach Jacobs to end the game.
Jones finished the day with two hits in four at-bats driving in three runs on the day. Lee notched his second straight multi-hit game going 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.
Langhorne reached base safely all four times drawing two walks while notching two hits with a pair of runs driven in.
"You know coming in that he is a velo guy," Langhorne said of St. Clair. "He runs it up there pretty good so you know he is going to try to get ahead with his fastball. I was geared up for it and I knew it was coming and I put a good swing on it."
Carson-Newman used nine pitchers on the day as Greg Valentine (Knoxville, Tenn.) was given the win to improve to 3-0 on the year.
St. Clair (8-2) lost for just the second time in 2017 despite striking out 11 batters. The right-hander went six innings allowing three runs, two earned on five hits and four walks.
Reynolds and Kent notched a pair of hits apiece as the Bears outhit the Eagles 10-9 on the afternoon.
Saturday afternoon starting at noon the two clubs wrap up the series with a doubleheader from the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex. Both games will be available with broadcasts on cneagles.com/live as the Eagle Sports Network provides audio and video streams.
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