ROME, Ga. – For the first time in 2022, Carson-Newman lost a road game as Shorter scored five runs and tallied seven hits in its final two at bats to come back and beat the Eagles 6-4 on Tuesday at the Ledbetter Complex.
"We competed," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "It wasn't a lack of attitude or effort. We didn't execute when we needed to in all areas today. We had a lack of awareness defensively where we didn't execute and missed a squeeze or a sign at the plate. We used our secondary stuff on the mound instead of our best stuff in key moments but we have to stay confident in our abilities. We had a great workout yesterday and for seven innings we were in command but one inning changed the outcome."
The Orange and Blue had matched the program's record for longest road winning streak in school history with 10 in a row losing on the road for the first time this year to snap the fourth-longest road winning streak in the country. The Hawks have beaten the Eagles in four consecutive meetings.
Carson-Newman opened the scoring in the top of the second. Kilian Daughtry (Simpsonville, S.C.) was plunked to open the inning but was still standing at first base with two outs. Against a new pitcher, Jordan Griffin (Ellerslie, Ga.) ambushed the first offering blasting it over the wall in left-center field for his third long ball of the year putting his crew ahead 2-0.
The first two batters were retired in the bottom of the second before a base hit and a hit batter set the stage for Logan Stockton to shovel a base knock to right-center field and slice the margin in half at 2-1.
After the teams were quiet through the middle innings, the Eagles pushed the edge out to 4-1 in the top of the seventh. Andrew Carpenter (Morristown, Tenn.) capitalized after an error put a runner aboard cranking a 1-0 pitch over the fence in left field for his third long ball of the season.
Shorter's lumber exploded in the bottom of the seventh as Stockton drove in Kody Krause to cut the deficit to two. Following a base hit, Lyndon Weaver smashed his team-leading ninth home run of the season over the wall in left field to put the Hawks ahead for the first time on the day at 5-4.
In the bottom of the eighth, the home club added an insurance run on a throwing error but left the bases loaded to keep the door ajar. James Colyer fired a flawless ninth to seal the win.
Griffin was the lone Eagle with a multi-hit day going 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored for his 14th game this year with at least two hits. The first five pitchers used by coach Tom Griffin fired five innings of one-run baseball giving up five hits and two walks. The final three gave up five runs on seven hits in three frames.
Stockton led all players going 4-for-4 out of the eight hole in the lineup with three others notching a multi-hit effort including Weaver's two and the three RBIs.
The Eagles turn their sights back to South Atlantic Conference action travelling to Lincoln Memorial for a three-game series starting on Friday at 6 p.m. All three games will feature on audio stream by visiting cneagles.com/live for the Eagle Sports Network's broadcast.
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