ROME, Ga. – For the first time in the history of the series, Shorter defended its home field limiting Carson-Newman to four hits in a 3-1 victory on Tuesday at the Robert H. Ledbetter Complex.
"We aren't coached very well," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "I know we have won some games. We are making mistakes that should have been corrected back in the fall. These guys haven't been taught enough to understand the game of baseball. Defensively, we missed two routine plays that cost us runs. Tanner Fee gave us a good start. Our bullpen did a good job."
Carson-Newman (18-13) had won three straight games in the series and all four outings in Rome as Shorter (14-16) triumphs for the second time in eight tries in the all-time series.
The four knocks were tied for the third-fewest pokes by the program this season. In the last nine games, the Eagles have six games with at least 10 knocks while tallying four, two and four in the other three.
Ethan Goforth (Blacksburg, Va.) dribbled a base hit up the third-base line and Colby Morgan (Hixson, Tenn.) was hit by a pitch to open the C-N half of the second. A fly out to right moved Goforth to third and a fielder's choice hit to second by Jordan Griffin (Ellersie, Ga.) scored Goforth to open the scoring at 1-0.
Shorter responded in the bottom of the third as Ricky Alvarez singled to left field to score Luis Acevedo from third base with two outs and knot the tally at one.
With one out in the bottom of the fourth, Matt Christian drew a four-pitch walk, stole second and scored on a base hit to right field by Ivan Nunez. After a strikeout, Nunez stole second. Acevedo stepped into the box and hit a ground ball to second base. John Sharpe (Franklin, Tenn.) bobbled it then threw in the dirt to first allowing Nunez to hustle around and score and stretch the margin to 3-1.
C-N had its best scoring chance in the top of the fifth when the first three men drew walks. Morgan struck out looking and Goforth was picked off of first base. After a walk loaded the bases again, Griffin was K'ed looking to leave the bases loaded and keep the deficit at two.
In the top of the ninth, Griffin started the inning with a double down the left-field line. Two ground outs later he was standing at third base. Brett Langhorne (Mechiancsville, Va.) was intentionally walked to put the tying run on base. Sharpe hit a grounder to third base that Nunez threw to second to get Langhorne and end the game.
Goforth and Griffin each had two hits to provide all of the hitting on the day as the team drew seven walks on the day.
Six players banged out the seven hits for Shorter led by a two-hit day from Victor Perez.
Tanner Fee (Knoxville, Tenn.) took the loss after earning his first start of the season allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits and four walks while punching out three. The C-N bullpen polished off the final 4 1/3 innings allowing just three base runners and striking out four.
Rhys Pollock improved to 2-0 after throwing five innings of one-run baseball with three walks and two hits allowed. Peyton Moore tallied his second save of the year striking out three in the final four innings of the game.
The Eagles turn their sights to South Atlantic Conference play against first-place Wingate this weekend. Game one is slated for 6 p.m. on Friday evening in the Tar Heel State. The Eagle Sports Network will have the call on cneagles.com/live starting 10 minutes before first pitch.
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