GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – Despite outhitting Tusculum (3-4) 9-4, Carson-Newman (3-3) stranded 13 runners in a 4-2 road loss Tuesday afternoon at Pioneer Field.
"Their pitchers obviously dominated us," Carson-Newman head baseball coach Tom Griffin said. "13 strikeouts and plenty of runners on base all day. We're getting guys on and then we aren't having good at bats at all. They are not competitive at bats. To leave that many guys on base, that's more of a mentality more than anything else."
Carson-Newman stranded multiple runners on base in five consecutive innings. C-N has left 29 guys on base the past two games.
Griffin's group was 4 for 17 with runners on base and 3 for 16 with runners in scoring position.
The Eagles missed out on good early opportunities to grab the lead. C-N had runners in scoring position with 1 out in the first two innings but stranded three runners and struck out four times.
Tusculum took advantage of C-N mistakes in the 3rd inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Ben Scartz hit a groundball to short that was misplayed by Aiden Gibson (Cleveland, Tenn.) and allowed two runs to score for TU. Two batters later, Murphy Flood hit a sacrifice fly to increase the Pioneers lead. The fourth run of the inning scored on a passed ball to cap a 4-run third inning.
Carson-Newman has finally able to strike with runners in scoring position in the fourth inning. Pinch hitter Ryan Potts (Dandridge, Tenn.) delivered a two-out double to left center to score Gibson and it was 4-1 Tusculum after four innings.
Three consecutive two-out singles for C-N in the fifth inning trimmed the deficit to two runs, as Gibson drove in Castellana for his third RBI of the season. The Eagles left the bases loaded in the fifth inning.
A single and a pair of walks loaded the bases for the Eagles in the sixth inning. But C-N was unable to drive in those runs and struck out and grounded out to end the attack. The Eagles left the bases loaded in back to back innings.
C-N pitching was spectacular all afternoon and came up big in the seventh inning. After two runners reached, Jake Wright (Ringgold, GA) entered and left the runners on base recording the final two outs of the frame to keep the deficit at 4-2.
The Eagles were retired in order in the final two innings of the game, as TU held on for a 4-2 victory. TU pitching struck out C-N 13 times.
The pitching staff kept C-N in the game all day long. None of the C-N pitchers allowed an earned run. Brock Culpepper (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) got the start and threw two innings striking out one TU hitter. He took the loss allowing two unearned runs. Grif Hughes (Knoxville, Tenn.), Hunter Harritan (Huntersville, N.C.) and Wright combined to get the final 18 outs out of the bullpen. These three arms allowed just two hits and three walks, while striking out seven.
Six different pitchers were used by the Pioneers, with Trejen Fox-Birdwell getting the win throwing two scoreless innings in relief. Drew Sliwinski closed the game, with his third career save.
Ben Scartz and Murphy Flood each recorded an RBI for the Pioneers.
Carson-Newman returns home this weekend and welcomes Cedarville to the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex. 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.
