NEWBERRY, S.C. – Despite losing three of the team's top hitters, Carson-Newman made a dash to be one of the final teams standing in the 2023 South Atlantic Conference Baseball Championships falling to fifth-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne 7-4 on Saturday at the Smith Road Complex.
"When you end the year you think at the things we did well and bad," Carson-Newman head coach Tom Griffin said. "You reflect more on what guys did on and off the field. The way they represented the university and their families on and off the field in the classroom. Look at some of the highs that we had with the comebacks and walk-off wins. The club may have overachieved in some aspects. The guys that graduated left their mark as leaders to the younger guys."
Carson-Newman (25-23) ties a bow on an ninth straight winning year recording at least 25 wins for the seventh time in that window after finishing the year fourth in the conference standings.
The scoring began in the bottom of the second inning, as LR's Zach Evans executed a squeeze play to perfection to score a run from third on the infield bunt single. After a pop out, Wade Cuda delivered a two-out single up the middle to increase the LR lead to 3-0 after two innings.
LR scored twice more in the third inning. The Bears scored off a C-N throwing error and then Evans recorded his second hit of the evening, a triple to right field to extend the lead to 5-0.
C-N had a response in the fifth. Aiden Gibson (Cleveland, Tenn.) singled to right field, the right fielder misplayed the ball, allowing Will Gibbs (Harrisburg, Ill.) to come around to score from second to make it 5-1.
The Bears answered that run in the bottom of the inning. Evans continued his strong day at the plate, with a two-out single to left, his third hit and third RBI of the game.
In the top of the eighth, C-N scored its second run of the game on an RBI groundout Dalton McLain (Greeneville, Tenn.) to cut the deficit to 6-2. Two batters later, pinch hitter Cade Burkey (Knoxville, Tenn.) delivered a single to left field scoring Zach Boze (Gallatin, Tenn.). Ben Wilcoxon (Dandridge, Tenn.) scored from third on a wild pitch to cap the three-run eighth inning and trim the deficit to 6-4.
LR got an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on a Blake Bean sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Cole Nelson, making the score 7-4.
The Eagles managed to bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth but was unable to cut into the deficit.
Boze paced C-N recording two hits, one that went for extra bases. Burkey and McLain each recorded an RBI in defeat.
Ethan Patch (Whitehall, N.Y.) drew the start and took the loss, going two innings, allowing six hits, four runs but only one was earned. In relief, Mason Mooney (San Jose, Calif.) and Hunter Harritan (Huntersville, N.C.) each threw three innings of one run baseball, while combining to strike out five hitters. Four of LR's 7 runs scored were unearned.
LR starter Joshua Lanham took the win. He went 7 2/3 innings giving up seven hits, four runs, two earned.
Four different Bears recorded multiple hits in the win. Lenoir-Rhyne (38-15) avoids elimination to advance to face Newberry for a chance to go to the SAC Championship series.
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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