KODAK, Tenn. – Despite falling behind 4-1 and stranding a season-high 13 men on base, fifth-seeded Carson-Newman made big plays in all three phases to topple second-seeded Tusculum 8-6 in comeback fashion Friday at Smokies Stadium in the Pilot Flying J South Atlantic Conference Baseball Championships.
"I thought Matt Bradley and Matt Parkinson did a really good job," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "They did a great job keeping them to single runs versus crooked numbers. Offensively, it seemed like we had somebody on base so there was some pressure. We were earning some of ours. The pressure innings were happening. You just have to realize that you are getting in the red zone, not scoring yet, but we were moving the football. With that mindset, something good is going to happen."
Carson-Newman (26-14) registered its fifth win over a top 25 team in 2021 tying the second-most in the last 20 years with the 2009 club and behind only the 2013 team that beat seven ranked units. The Eagles even the all-time series with Tusculum (29-10) in the SAC Tournament at eight with wins in each of the last two.
Six of the teams 14 hits on the day came with two outs while the C-N pitching staff limited the Pioneers to 1-for-10 hitting in the same situations.
With a runner at second base and two outs in the bottom of the first, Daalen Adderley hit a rocket to right field that bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double to start the scoring and put the Pioneers on top 1-0.
After stranding two runners on base in each of the first two frames, the Eagles broke through to tie the score at one in the third. With two outs and men at the corners, Zach Boze (Gallatin, Tenn.) ripped a single to left field to plate Henry Jackson (Waxhaw, N.C.).
Bryson Ford quickly flipped the script with a solo homer with one out in the bottom of the third launching a pay-off pitch over the picnic seating area in left-center field putting the second seed in front 2-1.
Zane Keener drew a lead-off walk to start the bottom of the fourth. Following a fly out, Murphy Flood sliced a ball into the right field corner for an RBI triple before scoring on a sacrifice fly to left field by Trey Hinton to swell Tusculum's advantage to 4-1.
Carson-Newman answered in the top of the fifth with two runs to trim the score to a 4-3 contest. After a sacrifice fly to left field by Boze, Andrew Carpenter (Morristown, Tenn.) ripped a run-scoring base hit with two outs to left field.
In the top of the sixth, the first two batters reached on a base hit and a walk but a sacrifice bunt and line out to third base had them standing at second and third base with two outs. Matt Parkinson (Whitesboro, N.Y.) laced a base hit to left field to bring in the tying run. Boze proceeded to rip a ball off of the glove of the third baseman and into left field to score two and give the Eagles their first lead at 6-4.
Eagles roar back to take their first lead of the game.@zboze32 caps off a 3️⃣-run 6th for @CNBaseball
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) April 23, 2021
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Eagles take down #2 seed Tusculum and advance to play Friday in winner's bracket action.
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) April 23, 2021
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The first two batters were retired in the seventh before Tyler Thompson (Gallatin, Tenn.) laid down a perfect bunt single to third base. Ford committed an error at shortstop on a ground Gunner Ricketts (Hixson, Tenn.). Jackson checked his swing but a lined a ball inside of the line just past first base to score two and expand the C-N lead to 8-4.
Daulton Martin was hit by a pitch with one out in the seventh moving to second base on a wild pitch. Ford dribbled a base hit through a wide open hole on the right side of the infield to trim the deficit to 8-5.
Tusculum brought the tying run to the plate with one out in the bottom of the ninth with Brandon Trammell flying out to left to cut it to an 8-6 contest before a fly out to right field sealed the win.
Matt Bradley (Talbott, Tenn.) secured his third win of the year firing six innings giving up four earned runs on five hits and four walks with three punch outs. Tyler Shaver (Dandridge, Tenn.) tallied his third save of the year firing three innings fanning a pair.
Five Eagles had multi-hit efforts as the team racked up 14, their most since March 7. Thompson paced the group with three pokes scoring twice. Jackson went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Parkinson went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Boze added his fourth multi-hit game in his last seven with a 2-for-4 line and two runs knocked in.
"Me and Griff have been talking and he wants me to be aggressive," Boze said. "We have been talking about trying not to do too much and trying to stay flat through the zone and hit good pitches. We knew that we were one big hit away. We knew that we were going to break through and just had to stick with the process. It worked out for us."
Tusculum committed four errors after ranking fourth in the league in fielding percentage leading to four unearned runs allowed. Alec Lay was the only of the four pitchers to not allow a run getting the last five outs.
Ford led the offense with a 3-for-4 day at the plate with two RBIs and two runs scored while Flood added two hits, an RBI and a run scored.
The Eagles take on the winner of third-seeded Newberry and fourth-seeded Wingate on Saturday at 9:30 p.m. airing on cneagles.com/live for the live video and audio streams or through the South Atlantic Conference app using your Roku, Amazon Fire or Apple TV. Ticket information can be found here with daily tickets and entire weekend packages available for purchase.
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