BRISTOL, Tenn. – Carson-Newman dropped their second matchup of the season to the King Tornado after falling 8-5 at the King Baseball Field on Tuesday afternoon.
It marked the first loss in Bristol for the Eagles (17-10) since 1991, having rattled off eight straight wins prior to today's rainy affair. The Eagles still hold the all-time advantage in the series at 17-9.
"The problem is we had a good workout yesterday that I thought it would carry over," Coach Tom Griffin mentioned. "Maybe I did a poor job of getting them passionate because our bench was quiet, we were sleep walking, we needed a wake-up guy for us and we didn't have that today. We basically threw it away. Credit it to King and what they were able to do today."
The Tornado (16-9) used nine pitchers on the afternoon combining to allow just five Eagles hits matching C-N's second-lowest total of the season when the same amount came in the final game of a 5-1 loss at Newberry on Feb. 24.
The top-four batters in the Eagles lineup combined for a 1-for-16 day at the plate as King improved to 11-3 at home this season.
"Some of that and today was lack of focus but we just weren't good," Griffin explained. "Good hitters should be able to hit no matter what especially against mid-week guys. I'll take the blame for it, but we have seniors and captains to make sure we are focused and ready to play every pitch."
Jordan Griffin (Ellersie, Ga.) continues to be a force at the plate for Tom Griffin's team plating his 10th RBI in four games on an infield single in the fourth scoring Cade Snapp0 (Seymour, Tenn.) for the game's first run.
King grabbed the lead on back-to-back doubles with two away in the bottom of the frame from Austin Meyer and Kevin Barbato.
The game remained 2-1 until the sixth-inning in which the Tornado posted six runs on four hits, including a C-N error that provided added insurance. The first five batters reached base after a leadoff triple followed with a single, a double, a hit by pitch and another two-bagger.
The Eagles added four runs in the top of the ninth with RBIs coming from Daughtry, Genter and Langhorne, but it was two little too late for a C-N team who was just one-for-nine at the plate with runners on base.
Matt Bradley (Talbott, Tenn.) was tabbed with the loss in his first-career start after a solid four-inning outing that yielded four hits, two earned runs and two strikeouts.
"We were looking for an opportunity to start him and I thought he did a really good job," Griffin added. "He had a great outing at Belmont Abbey out of the pen and Coach Bounds was trying to stretch him out to get him ready and he was good."
C-N will pick head to Harrogate, Tenn. this weekend for a conference series with Lincoln Memorial. Game one of the three-game set is slated for March. 23 at 6:00 p.m.
-CN-
