ANDERSON, S.C. – For the fifth year in-a-row, Carson-Newman secured a series victory over Anderson winning the first game on Saturday at Memorial Stadium 12-10 and dropping the series finale 3-2 in South Atlantic Conference action.
"It's very important after the last couple weekends to get back into that winning feeling on the road," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "Ideally you want to win all three but on the road you want to win two out of three. Good games. The first game offensively we did a good job as far as the amount of hits and the pressure top to bottom."
In the first game of the day, the Eagles produced four triples to set a new single-game program record besting the previous mark of three set on three occasions. It was most recently done on March 3, 2018 at Coker and is the second-most in a Division II game this year.
Carson-Newman (22-14, 5-9) had won six consecutive games over Anderson (12-22, 3-12) prior to the nightcap but has won 12 of the last 16 outings to take a 30-9 overall lead in the series.
Micah Genter (Jasper, Tenn.) led the Eagles for the weekend going 7-for-10 with a team-high five RBIs as the team as a whole collected a .352 batting average during the three-game set.
Game One: CARSON-NEWMAN 12, Anderson 10
After Anderson scored in the bottom of the first off of an error, Carson-Newman scored four times in the top of the second. An error by Trojans brought in the first runner before an RBI double from Jordan Griffin (Ellerslie, Ga.), an RBI triple by Mark Treadway (Friendsville, Tenn.) and an RBI infield single by Genter stretched the lead to 4-1.
The Trojans chiseled away over their next two at-bats. A sacrifice fly for the second out in the second made it a two-run game before a walk and a single put two men on base. Dillon Carpenter ripped a double to the wall in right field to pull the home club within one.
It was another two-out hit that tied the score in the third. The first two batters were retired on four pitches before Cody Adams turned on a 1-0 pitch hitting it over the fence in right field for his first dinger of the season to equal the margin at four.
Griffin's group mounted a rally in the top of the fourth thanks to a two-out error at shortstop on a tailor made ground ball. Back-to-back RBI triples from Ethan Goforth (Blacksburg, Va.) and Genter gave the Eagles s a 6-4 edge starting a string of six unanswered runs.
A fielder's choice ground out and base hit to left field by Treadway added a pair in the fifth. With two outs and two men on in the sixth, Michael Wroth (Chicopee, Mass.) roped a two-run double to the wall in right field to push the lead to 10-4 in the sixth.
Carpenter provided an RBI single to left field with two outs in the bottom of the sixth but the Eagles added two more in the seventh thanks to an RBI double from Genter and a two-out, bases loaded walk to Kyle to get the margin to 12-5.
The Trojans mounted a charge getting three runs in the seventh. A sacrifice fly cleared the bases to bring in the first run. After a ground out recorded the second out of the frame, a four-pitch walk, a single to left and a hit batter loaded the bases. Carpenter pushed a single back into center field to cut the deficit to four at 12-8.
In the ninth, a pair of ground outs opened the frame before another four-pitch walk. Two straight RBI singles by Will Lindsey and Carpenter brought the tying run to the plate in Chandler Castleberry. Hunter Long (Powell, Tenn.) entered and induced a fly out to the alley in right to end the game.
Genter finished with his first-career four-hit game going 4-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored as one of five players with multi-hit efforts. Tyler Thompson (Gallatin, Tenn.) went 3-for-6 with two runs scored while Griffin, Treadway and John Sharpe (Franklin, Tenn.) each providing two knocks. Griffin and Treadway each had two RBIs and two runs scored.
Cameron Bloebaum (Kinsey, Ala.) had thrown 5 1/3 innings all season but gave the Eagles 3 1/3 to earn his second win of the year despite allowing four earned runs.
Carpenter pounded out four more hits in six at-bats driving in three runs while Lindsey reached base six times going 3-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored.
Game Two: ANDERSON 3, Carson-Newman 2
Errors helped give the Eagles a 1-0 lead in the second as the Trojans made a pair. With men at second and third and two outs, Goforth hit a routine grounder to shortstop. A bobble and a high throw allowed him to reach base and bring in Griffin to open the scoring.
Logan Cogburn (Friendsville, Tenn.) faced the minimum over the first two innings and was ahead 0-1 on Matthew Overton to start the third. The left-handed hitter turned on the offering hitting into the trees over the right-field wall to tie the score at one.
Carpenter was hit by a 1-2 pitch with one out in the fourth. Two pitches later on a 0-1 delivery, Castleberry launched his sixth roundtripper of the season over the 380 marker in left-center field to give the home club their largest lead of the series at 3-1.
The first three Eagles reached in the top of the fifth with a single to left field by Sharpe driving in Genter to cut the deficit to one at 3-2 and put the tying run at third base with no outs. A line out to shortstop and a 6-4-3 double play ended the threat however.
Genter was hit by a pitch to open the top of the seventh moving to second on a sacrifice bunt and to third base on a ground out to third. Thompson dug into the batter's box and finished an eight-pitch at-bat with a grounder to first to end the game.
After hitting ruled the first two games, the pitchers were the stars in the finale. Cogburn took his first loss of the season but allowed three hits over five hits, two were homers yielding three earned runs.
Austin Todd pushed his record to 2-2 on the season for Anderson striking out five over 5 2/3 innings of work allowing two runs, one earned on six hits and a walk. Christian Carpenter recorded the final four outs to pick up his eighth save of the year.
Sharpe connected for two of the team's six hits in the game as the lower third contributed a hit each with the Eagles outhitting the Trojans 6-3 overall.
The Eagles journey back home to start a five-game homestand Tuesday afternoon at 3 p.m. against Shorter with the Eagle Sports Network providing coverage on cneagles.com/live.
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