KODAK, Tenn. – Overcoming two early deficits, seventh-seeded Carson-Newman trailed by five entering the bottom of the ninth and brought the winning run to plate before coming up shy 11-8 to second-seeded and No. 15 Newberry in an elimination game on Saturday in the 2022 South Atlantic Conference Baseball Championships at Smokies Stadium.
"Today come out behind, we have to battle back and give yourself a chance in the ninth inning," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "Sure enough we did, we gave ourselves a chance. Newberry is an extremely well-coached group by coach [Russell] Triplett. For us to get back into like that, that's the measurement of our club and how we represent the university and our alumni this weekend. I am very proud of them.
"It is a very sad time. The hugs right now and guys realizing that it's over for some of them in their career. It is an emotional and if it wasn't then the impacts haven't been made with the relationship their teammates and university. You can see the emotions and how much they have invested with each other. We would have loved to have been celebrating holding a trophy but God has a plan for us. We have dealt with a lot adversity this year. All of these guys know that was the plan and how are we going to handle the adversity. I thought the guys did an exceptional job the way they represented the university and alums here."
The Eagles conclude their ninth winning season in a row posting at least 25 victories for the seventh time over that period while recording a sixth straight year with a .500 or better record against league foes.
Carson-Newman (28-24) is eliminated by Newberry (38-12) for the second year in a row falling to 7-5 in 12 conference tournament meetings. The Wolves have won six of the last eight contests in the series including three of the last four postseason outings. Griffin's group is 7-7 since 2016 in elimination affairs.
Newberry scored in each of its first three trips to the plate jumping on the Eagles for two runs in the top of the first on singles by Henry Gibson and Ben Freeman to go ahead 2-0 before C-N picked up the lumber.
Carson-Newman saw its first two hitters retired on three pitches before two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases for Zach Boze (Gallatin, Tenn.). The junior busted out of a slump with an RBI single to left field before Matt Parkinson (Whitesboro, N.Y.) drew a walk to knot the score at two.
After adding a run in the second, the Wolves tacked on three more in the third to jump out to a 6-2 advantage. A base hit from Ian Clements brought in a run but an error in center added a run and set up Clements at third base. A squeeze bunt punctuated the frame.
The Eagles began a comeback in the third scoring four unanswered runs over the next three innings. Harrison Travis (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) blasted a 1-1 pitch off of the back wall near the scoreboard in left field with one out in the third.
In the fourth, C-N tacked on two more thanks to a pair of errors by the Wolves to pull within a run at 6-5. With men at first and second base, a potential inning-ending double play ball was thrown away bringing in a run before a fielding error in right allowed a man to touch home.
The Orange and Blue tied the score in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a two-out single through the left side of the infield by Gunnar Ricketts (Hixson, Tenn.).
Newberry rattled off five unanswered runs over the next two stanzas taking the lead on a two-out, two-run single through the left side of the infield by Gibson in the sixth. Beau Thompson followed with a base hit to right field. The Wolves added two in the seventh on a base hit from Jacob LeBron and a fielder's choice to push the margin out to 11-6.
Two walks and a hit batter opened the bottom of the ninth inning before Luke Goforth (Blacksburg, Va.) lined a single to center field. Back-to-back pop outs to second put the Eagles down to their final out. Micah Genter (Jasper, Tenn.) kept the game alive with a base hit down the right-field line to bring the winning run to the plate but a pop out to short ended the contest.
C-N stranded 13 men on base for the game leaving the bases loaded twice in the contest as the team tallied nine hits drawing eight walks and being hit by four pitches. Genter was the lone hitter in the lineup with a two-hit day while Kilian Daughtry (Simpsonville, S.C.) reached base three times and Parkinson was aboard all five times.
Newberry went 7-for-16 with runners in scoring position on the day racking up a dozen hits with the top five in the lineup combining to go 9-for-22 with seven RBIs and seven runs scored. Tarrance led the way going 2-for-6 with two RBIs and two runs scored with Gibson driving in three.
Fans can stay tuned to the Eagles during the offseason by following @CNbaseball and @CN_Eagles on Twitter while keeping dialed into cneagles.com for all of the latest news and notes surrounding the program.
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