JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Shorter (4-0) scored three third inning runs and never let Carson-Newman (3-1) get any closer than two runs in a 7-2 Hawks win on Tuesday afternoon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
"It was all about our mindset and mentality," Carson-Newman head baseball coach Tom Griffin said. "Guys get in the box and they are trying to squeeze it and think they have to get it done. Other guys get in the box and don't think about that. They just worry about seeing ball and doing damage to the ball. Obviously in the box we aren't pulling the trigger and were taking pitches that are fastballs. When you get out of your game that you normally do, you have to be able to reset the mindset because its not the same."
Shorter has won eight straight games against Carson-Newman and ends the Eagles five-game home winning streak that dated back to last season.
After a leadoff double to begin the top of the second, Grif Hughes (Knoxville, Tenn.) worked himself out of a first and third jam with a strikeout and a groundout to keep Shorter off the board. In the bottom half of the inning, C-N was able to get the first two runners on base but a pair a double play and a fly out ended the second inning threat.
Two singles and a hit by pitch loaded the bases for the Hawks to begin the third inning. Thomas Schroeder hit a groundball to third but the ball was bobbled at the plate and Shorter took the lead. Levi Maddela followed with a RBI sacrifice fly. After picking off a runner at first base, Hughes misfired on a pickoff attempt to third and Kobe Jones walked home to cap a three-run third inning for Shorter.
After a pair of singles and a hit by pitch, that loaded the bases for James Denten (Mt Prospect, Ill). The senior worked a great at bat and drove a 2-2 pitch to centerfield to score Carson Cochran (Franklin, Tenn.) and cut the deficit to two. Shorter turned to the bullpen and Blayne Fritcher got a strikeout and pop up to strand the bases load in the third. C-N missed out on an opportunity to score runs when it had the bases loaded and just one out.
Shorter got that run back in the top of the fifth inning. On a 2-2 pitch, Koby Krause launched his first home run of the season to right field to extend the lead to 4-1.
The Hawks extended the lead in the seventh inning after a pair of hits to start the inning. With runners on second and third, Kobe Jones hit a ball to straight away center for a sacrifice fly to make it 5-1.
Carson-Newman cut back into the deficit in the bottom of the frame. After a pair of lead off walkoffs, pinch hitter Tanner Kilgore (Kingsport, Tenn.) delivered with his first career hit, a line-drive to right field for his first RBI to make the score 5-2 Shorter after seven innings.
With two outs in the eighth, Jacob Pajer increased the Hawks lead with a single to left field for his first RBI of the game. The bases were loaded for Logan Stockton and he delivered with a single to left to putting the finishing touches on a 7-2 Hawks victory.
C-N left nine guys on base and had two innings where it left multiple guys on the base paths.
Hughes took the loss after going three innings allowing just one earned run on four hits while striking out three. Jacob Overbeck (Morris, Ill.) followed and went 1 2/3 innings allowing three hits and one run. Five other arms combined to record the final sixteen outs of the game, with Coltin Reynolds (Powell, Tenn.) and Ethan Patch (Whitehall, NY.) each giving C-N scoreless relief work.
Pajer led four Hawks that multi-hit days, recording three himself. Five different players recorded an RBI for Shorter. Blayne Fritcher got the victory in relief, going 2 1/3 innings recording a walk and a strikeout. Cole McDaniel and Tanner Folds combined to record the final nine outs of the game.
The Eagles will regroup before squaring off with Shippensburg this weekend. The weekend series begins on Friday at 2:00 p.m. All three contests will air on the Eagle Sports Network with video available on FloSports with a paid subscription and an audio-only stream on cneagles.com/live.
