LMU pulls away from No. 25 C-N to seal sweep

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – In the longest game of the year at 4:03, a one-run game after five innings saw Lincoln Memorial score 12 of the final 15 runs to close out a series sweep over Carson-Newman 16-6 Monday at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex in South Atlantic Conference play.

Lincoln Memorial (15-8, 7-2) has now won 14 of the last 15 games against Carson-Newman (17-7, 2-3). The Eagles committed five errors in the game, their most since Feb. 9, 2018 against Virginia-Wise.

The Railsplitters loaded the bases with one out on a hit by pitch, error and walk in the top of the first inning with Seth Hunt scoring an unearned run on a sacrifice fly by Nate Stinson. LMU scored in the first inning for the third time in the series to take a 1-0 edge.

C-N formulated a two-out surge in the bottom of the first with Malik Kyle (Jefferson City, Tenn.) and Tyler Thompson (Gallatin, Tenn.) drawing walks. Kilian Daughtry (Simpsonville, S.C.) scorched a single back up the middle to bring in Kyle tying the game at one.

LMU regained the lead in the top of the second stanza with Alex Allen lining a single to left field with one out. Joe Stucky hit a grounder to third base that looked like a double play but the throw sailed into right field. After a punch out, Dalton Dedas hit a jam shot blooper to center field that fell in for a hit to give the visitors a 2-1 edge.

A single by Tyler Adams opened the top of the third inning moving to second on an error, to third on a fly ball to right and scoring on a sacrifice fly to right by Will Reddick to push the margin to 3-1.

John Sharpe (Franklin, Tenn.) cut the deficit to a run at 3-2 by blasting a 1-0 offering over the fence in center field for his fourth home run of the year.

Dalton Long (Powell, Tenn.) had retired six in-a-row when Nate Stinson singled on a 1-2 pitch with two outs in the fifth. Long walked the next batter on four pitches before Henry Moore hit a ground ball past the outstretched, diving glove of Micah Genter (Jasper, Tenn.) at shortstop to make it a 4-2 game.

Entering the bottom of the fifth, Eli Wright retired five consecutive hitters. On a 2-2 pitch, Ethan Goforth (Blacksburg, Va.) laced his third homer in four games and seventh on the year over the left-center field fence pulling the home team within one at 4-3.

In the top of the sixth inning, Seth Hunt dumped a double down the right-field line with one out. Following a foul pop up to first base, Tyler Adams drew a walk. Chris Salvey grounded a single back up the middle to score Hunt. Two pitches later on a 1-0 offering, Stinson cranked a three-run homer over the wall to swell the bulge to 8-3.

The first two men were retired in the top of the seventh before back-to-back walks put two men on base for Dalton Dedas. The right-handed hitter split the gap in right-center field to bring in a pair and push the lead to 10-3.

Carson-Newman strung together a rally in the bottom of the seventh with knocks to begin the frame. Thompson and Alan Silva (Sevierville, Tenn.) produced RBI singles to pull the Eagles within five at 10-5. Devin Morris struck out two looking and induced a fly out to left field to strand the bases loaded.

Lincoln Memorial blew the game open with six runs in the top of the ninth capped by a grand slam to left field by Will Reddick on a 1-0 pitch.

The Eagles put another run on the board in the bottom of the ninth on a two-out RBI single to right field by Charlie Brown (Sevierville, Tenn.).

Sharpe notched his third three-hit game of the season finishing a triple shy of the cycle in five at-bats leading C-N's 16-hit day, two more than LMU. Thompson, Daughtry and Silva each registered a pair of pokes.

Reddick drove in five runs, Stinson drove in four to lead the offense with Hunt scoring four times from the top of the lineup. In the series, LMU outscored the Eagles 34-14 with Stinsonn going 8-for-13 with eight RBIs.

The Eagles close out a five-game homestand Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m. against Belmont Abbey looking to seal a season sweep of the Crusaders from the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex. Broadcast coverage is on cneagles.com/live in video and audio formats.

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