Quartet of Eagles garner SAC All-Tournament team honors

KODAK, Tenn. – Carson-Newman placed four members on the 2017 Pilot/Flying J South Atlantic Conference Baseball Championship All-Tournament Team announced by the league Tuesday afternoon. The runners-up saw Ryan Addington, Greg Jones, Brett Langhorne and Will Gardner earn the laurels.

Only tournament titlist Lincoln Memorial had more players on the squad as the Railsplitters recorded seven players. Catawba and Newberry each put two men on the roster.

As the tablesetter for the Eagles, Addington tallied a .423 batting average with six runs driven in while scoring seven runs. The Cincinnati, Ohio native notched four multi-hit games over the weekend and in an 11-5 victory that eliminated fifth-seeded Tusculum he went 3-for-5 with four RBIs and two runs scored.

Jones led all players in the field with 20 total bases going 13-for-25, .520, with two home runs and seven runs driven in and five runs scored. After having just one game with more than two hits during his senior year, the Maryville, Tenn. native notched two three-hit games and a four-hit afternoon in the final three contests of his career. The catcher went 4-for-5 with a home run against third-seeded Newberry and came back late Sunday night to go 3-for-5 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored against 15th-ranked and top-seeded Catawba.

Langhorne posted the highest average of any player to get at least 15 at-bats in the tournament field going 12-for-22, a .545 clip, with a double, a triple, four runs knocked in and seven runs scored. The junior started play with the game-winning double against sixth-seeded Coker Thursday night in the top of the eighth inning. The Mechiancsville, Va. native posted five multi-hit games including a pair of three-hit efforts.

Gardner threw 247 pitches across two starts over the weekend registering a 1-1 record with a 1.80 earned run average with 10 strikeouts in 15 innings pitched. Opponents hit just .220 against the right-hander. The leader in the league in complete games allowed three runs, two earned on seven hits and two walks while punching out eight batters in a Thursday night win over sixth-seeded Coker. Pitching on three days of rest, the Morristown, Tenn. native took the loss in the championship game spinning six innings of six-hit baseball allowing seven runs, one earned on four walks and two strikeouts.

2017 South Atlantic Conference Baseball Championship All-Tournament Team

Timmy Wages, Lincoln Memorial (MVP)
Logan Augustine, Lincoln Memorial
Brandon Jean, Lincoln Memorial
Ethan Elliott, Lincoln Memorial
Chase Randolph, Lincoln Memorial
Tyler Adams, Lincoln Memorial
Muta Crusoe, Lincoln Memorial
Ryan Addington, Carson-Newman
Greg Jones, Carson-Newman
Brett Langhorne, Carson-Newman
Will Gardner, Carson-Newman

Hunter Shepherd, Catawba
Bryce Fowler, Catawba
Jeff Sneed, Newberry
Robert Westenrieder, Newberry

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