JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman pitching allowed one base runner in the final four frames as the Eagles scored the game's final six runs to open the series against Charleston with a 9-4 victory Friday at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
"Brayden Coe was the difference," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "They had some good swings on him but we were able to keep the crooked numbers to a limit. They were getting some good cuts but for him to stay in the game as long as he did and shut it down allowed us to creep back in it. He got stronger as the game went on. Breaking ball was working better. Location was down in the zone. He got up when he needed to. He's a competitor, a battler and a tough kid and they allowed us to stay in the game.
"Bottom part of our lineup ended up with eight hits. That's good when we don't have to rely on one part of the lineup to get you runs but the whole lineup. So far this year we have gotten it from top to bottom. That's a good thing. Mentally it doesn't matter the score or inning, someone can get us started."
Brayden Coe (Bridgeville, Pa.) battled over seven innings giving up four earned runs on six hits and two walks while fanning six to earn his second win of the year. He retired the last eight batters that he faced. Hunter Harritan (Huntersville, N.C.) and Jake Wright (Ringgold, Ga.) retired six of the final seven with Wright punching out the side to win the game.
"My arm got looser towards the mid third inning," Coe said. "I just knew that I had to keep going out there and throwing zeroes and keeping these guys in the ball game because I knew our offense would explode at some point. It's all about letting them put the ball in play, filling up the zone early and often. I got behind in counts in those first couple innings. In those last couple innings I was able to throw my curveball in there for strikes. They had to be aware of other pitches I could throw."
Five different Eagles finished with multi-hit days as the bottom three in the lineup combined to go 6-for-8 with three RBIs and five runs scored. Jordan Griffin (Ellerslie, Ga.) went 2-for-2 with an RBI and three runs scored. Micah Genter (Jasper, Tenn.) led the charge out of the nine hole going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored.
Carson-Newman (8-2) improves to 16-1 all-time against opponents from the Mountain East handing Charleston (2-5) its fourth consecutive loss. The Eagles eight win in their first 10 games is the club's best 10-game start to the year since going 9-1 to begin the 2019 slate.
Jordan Bailey yanked the first pitch of the game inside of the first-base bag for a lead-off double. Two batters later, Tyler Dellerman opened the scoring with a base hit into right field putting the Golden Eagles ahead 1-0.
In the third inning, Bailey and Dellerman combined again to make it a 3-0 contest. Bailed bounced a single into right field to start the inning and scored when Dellerman whacked a double to the fence in right field to score Bailey before coming across the plate on a ground out.
Carson-Newman put a run on the board for the first time in the third as Genter reached on an infield single and moved to second base on a throwing error. Henry Jackson (Waxhaw, N.C.) ambushed the next pitch lining it into right field to bring in Genter and pull the Eagles within two at 3-1.
With one out in the fourth inning, the Eagles loaded the bases. Ethan Soderna threw a pitch that got away from Dellerman and with a runner breaking from third, Soderna dropped the ball as it rolled towards the third-base dugout. Griffin motored in from second base to tie the tally.
The lead lasted two batters with Dellerman cranking the first pitch of his at bat off of the C-N baseball sign in right field to put the Golden Eagles back on top 4-3 in the fifth frame.
After Soderna retired the first two batters of the sixth, Griffin blasted a 0-1 offering to straightaway center field for his first roundtripper of the season to level the ground again, this time at four.
Griffin's group took the lead for the first time in the bottom of the seventh. Gunnar Ricketts (Hixson, Tenn.) stepped to the plate with one out and a runner at first base and cranked the first offering to the center field side of the scoreboard in right to put the home group ahead 6-4.
C-N added three more to its lead in the eighth loading the bases with one out. A passed ball brought in a run before Genter laced a single through the middle of the drawn in infield pushing the margin out to 9-4.
Soderna fired 5 2/3 innings giving up four runs, three earned on seven hits and two walks with a pair of strikeouts. The bullpen gave up five runs on five hits in 2 1/3 innings of work on the mound.
Dellerman finished a triple shy of the cycle going 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored while throwing out three would-be base stealers behind the plate. Bailey went 2-for-4 with two runs scored at the top of the lineup. Hitters four through nine combined to go 1-for-21 in the box.
The two teams wrap up the series on Saturday starting at noon for a doubleheader at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex. Both games will feature audio and video streams at cneagles.com/live on the Eagle Sports Network.
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