JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – In his first career South Atlantic Conference start, Matt Bradley fired six shutout frames to help Carson-Newman take the series finale 5-0 after falling 8-5 in the first game of the twin-bill Saturday afternoon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
"My mindset today and anytime that I pitch is to try to compete," Bradley reflected. "It's me versus the batter. It doesn't really matter what team that is. I have to execute my pitches. You love to have a guy like Ethan Goforth back there competing for you. It makes pitching easier."
In 15 three-game series played between the two schools at Mossy Creek, Carson-Newman (22-20, 13-11) has won 13 including nine straight over Lenoir-Rhyne (26-18, 12-12). The Bears drop a SAC set for the fourth straight weekend.
The second game was the second shutout of the season by the Eagles pitching staff but first in a league affair since knocking down Newberry 3-0 in the final game of the series on April 2, 2016.
In the three-game series, the Eagles turned eight double plays while making just two errors in the field while L-R made seven on the weekend.
"We played well," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "The double plays were huge because they were mounting some big innings. The pitch has to be made but the middle infield – Dom [Leo], [John] Sharpe, Micah Genter, Brett [Langhorne] – did really good jobs to execute. That's big and a tough blow to an offense."
Ethan Goforth (Blacksburg, Va.) finished the weekend by going 7-for-12 with three RBIs and five runs scored to pace the offensive attack for the group.
Game One: LENOIR-RHYNE 8, Carson-Newman 5
Justin Dean started the game by bouncing a 0-2 pitch back up the middle and into center field. After a sacrifice bunt, Caleb Beatty rolled a single through the right side of the infield to plate Dean and give L-R a 1-0 before the Eagles came to plate.
Back-to-back singles started the top of the second stanza. After a strikeout the Eagles brought the infield in with runners at second and third base. Tripp Hamrick laced a liner over a leaping Colby Morgan (Hixson, Tenn.) at first base to score a pair to conclude an eight-pitch at-bat. Dean took a 0-2 pitch and drove it into the alley in right-center to score Hamrick and push the margin to 4-0.
In the bottom of the second, C-N sent eight men to the dish and scored three times to pull within a run at 4-3. Goforth doubled and Brendan Campbell (Yardley, Pa.) drew a walk. After a sacrifice bunt, a pop out and a walk to Jordan Griffin (Ellerslie, Ga.), the Eagles had the bases loaded. Micah Genter (Jasper, Tenn.) hit a bouncer to second base that was bobbled by Brock Johnson as Goforth and an alert Campbell came in to score. Brett Langhorne (Mechiancsville, Va.) pulled a base hit through the right side of the infield to make it a 4-3 contest.
A walk and a single had two men on with two outs for the Bears in the top of the third. Corbin Watson ripped the first offering of his at-bat into an empty space in left-center field to score a pair and push the margin to three at 6-3.
Goforth floated a single to shallow left field with one out in the third. Campbell followed by lacing a triple down the right-field line to get Goforth home and make it a 6-4 affair as Campbell was stranded at third base.
Dean greeted Kyle Cagle (Fairview, N.C.) out of the C-N bullpen by cranking the third pitch the lefty threw over the fence in left field for his fifth long ball of the season to get the lead back to three at 7-4.
With two outs and nobody on base in the bottom of the fourth, Dom Leo (Knoxville, Tenn.) drew a walk. Following an infield single by Cade Snapp (Seymour, Tenn.), Goforth ripped a ball past the third baseman and into left field to score Leo and pull the Eagles within two at 7-5.
Two strikeouts opened the top of the eighth for L-R before Hamrick lined a single to left field and stole second base. With a 1-2 count on Dean, the L-R lead-off man pushed a base hit into center field to score Hamrick and get the margin back to three at 8-5.
Lenoir-Rhyne starter John Grigg allowed a season-high five earned runs over six innings on seven hits and four walks while striking out six. The league's leader in wins improves to 8-1 as the team is 10-1 in his 11 starts this year.
Landon Whitson tossed the final three innings allowing just one man to reach on an error to tally his ninth save of the year. The right-hander has not allowed a run to a SAC team in 14 2/3 innings pitched.
Dean reach base safely all five times in the game finishing a triple shy of the cycle with three RBIs and two runs scored. L-R overall tallied 14 hits to the seven for the Eagles.
Dalton Long (Powell, Tenn.) took the loss allowing six earned runs on eight hits and a walk with three K's. The C-N bullpen fired the final six frames allowing two runs on six hits.
Goforth led the C-N offense by going 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI on the day while Snapp went 2-for-5. The last four spots in the lineup combined to go 0-for-13 at the plate.
Game Two: CARSON-NEWMAN 5, Lenoir-Rhyne 0
Each team had chances with the bases loaded and two outs. Morgan struck out swinging to end C-N's threat in the first. Watson grounded into an inning-ending fielder's choice to stymie the chance for L-R in the sixth.
The scoreless affair was changed in the bottom of the sixth stanza. Errors plagued the Bears in the stanza as the unit made four including a lead-off miscue by Watson at short to put the first man on base. After failing to drop down a sacrifice bunt, Goforth ripped a 0-2 pitch into the alley in left-center field to get the Eagles on the board. A base hit through the right side of the infield by Campbell scored Goforth to make it 2-0.
Charlie Brown (Sevierville, Tenn.) hit a bouncer back to the mound that hit off of the pitcher's hand to allow him to reach base for his third hit of the day. Griffin stepped in and hit a rocket to third that glanced off of the glove of Hamrick and into left field. The left-fielder, Stamper misplayed the ball allowing two runs to score. An overthrow to the plate put Griffin at third. Genter followed by lining a ball over a drawn-in infield to left field to bring in Griffin. Langhorne capped the explosion with a single into right field to make it a 5-0 game going to the seventh.
"We were able to get that big hit before they did," Griffin analyzed. "We knew that game was going to come down to one run and someone executing something. Fortunately we were able to do that in that inning."
Bradley finished his second-career start by working six innings allowing three hits and five walks with five strikeouts on 92 pitch for his first win.
Lenoir-Rhyne was limited to three hits on the day and left seven men on base going 1-for-9 in the game with a runner aboard.
Griffin's group takes to the road for the final week of the regular season starting with a trip to the Music City on Tuesday at Trevecca Nazerene for a 4 p.m. first pitch. The Eagle Sports Network will have the coverage on cneagles.com/live starting at 3:50.
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