HICKORY, N.C – For the first time in seven years, Carson-Newman (16-14, 9-7 SAC) hit five home runs to win the series opener over Lenoir-Rhyne (20-13, 8-8 SAC) 9-8 on head coach Tom Griffin's 59th birthday.
"This is all a blessing," Griffin said. "I got emotional with our guys earlier, it's a blessing to be able to do this. I'm grateful for everyone that has helped me, my family, friends, players and coaches. I'm so blessed at this university. I was sitting there during that game thinking about the career. It was a great game. LR is a fantastic club and you never are going to have a lead that is safe. Our guys were really resilient. The energy levels from the beginning of this game were great and our guys had to handle a tough atmosphere. The bats really came through, I'm proud of them. We were resilient."
Four different players combined for C-N's five home runs in the one-run victory. It's the most dingers in a game since the team hit five against Northwood on Feb. 17, 2017.
James Denten (Mt. Prospect, Ill.) paced the Eagles' long ball effort by hitting two home runs in the series opener, his first multi home run game as an Eagle. He now has seven home runs this season and three this week. Logan Floyd (Adairsville, Ga.) and Spencer Williams (Seymour, Tenn.) also homered, doing so for the second time this week.
Aiden Gibson (Cleveland, Tenn.) led Carson-Newman with a three-hit day which included his first career home run. The sophomore shortstop drove in a pair of runs and scored twice.
Floyd started C-N's offensive evening by crushing the first pitch of the second inning over the right field wall for his second career home run.
Lenoir-Rhyne responded with a Cole Stanford RBI single to level the scoring after two innings.
The Eagles scored for a second straight inning after a wild pitch with two outs allowed Dalton McLain (Greeneville, Tenn.) to scamper home. But the Bears had another quick answer. Tyler McPeak doubled to right field to plate a run and make it two all through three innings.
Carson-Newman did damage with two outs in the fourth inning. Back-to-back singles from Gibson and Trey Miller (Rocky Point, N.Y.) occupied the corners for Williams. The right-fielder hammered a 1-0 pitch over the right center field wall and C-N led 5-2 after four innings.
The long-ball hitting continued to the bat of Denten who homered over the scoreboard in right to leadoff the fifth inning and the lead increased to four runs.
The Bears put up a four spot in the fifth inning. An RBI single followed by a sacrifice fly made it 6-4. With two outs in the inning, Sal Carricato went yard to deep center and tied the game back at six after five innings.
For the second consecutive half inning, C-N went yard to leadoff an inning. Gibson homered to right center field for the first of his career and that swing put C-N up and for good.
After two quick outs to start the seventh inning, C-N's offense came alive again with two outs. A single and a walk set the table for Gibson who singled back up the middle and Carson-Newman led 8-6.
LR threatened for runs in the bottom of the seventh. Senior reliever Grif Hughes (Knoxville, Tenn.) came up big by recording a pair of strikeouts and getting a pop up to end the attack and keep his team up by two after seven frames.
Carson-Newman scored for a seventh straight frame as Denten homered on the first pitch he saw in the eighth inning and the lead was 9-6.
The Bears cut back into the C-N lead in the bottom half of the eighth. A pair of wild pitches scored runners from third to make it a one-run game and put the tying-run 90 feet away. Hunter Harritan (Huntersville, N.C.) overcame the wild pitches and struck out Carricato to keep the C-N lead 9-8 heading to the ninth.
Harritan continued his relief outing by recording the first two outs of the ninth. A two-out walk gave LR hope and was able to advance a runner to third. But Harritan slammed the door by finishing the game with his third strikeout after an eight pitch at bat to seal the series opener.
Harritan got the final five outs to record his league-leading seventh save of the season. Hughes threw 2 2/3 innings allowing just one run and striking out four hitters.
"When you have two guys like them, you feel good about your chances," Griffin said. "They both have been through a lot. They've have some great wins and saves and then some losses but they are seasoned veterans. They are great human beings. They have a servant leadership and heart. You love to see those type of guys have success because of who they are. We are fortunate to have those two for sure."
Carson-Newman finished with 12 hits, six of which came with two outs. The Eagles are 6-0 in one-run games this season and win their sixth series opener this year.
LR had 13 hits with four different players having multi-hit evenings.
The series continues and wraps up tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m. with a doubleheader. The contests air with an audio-only stream on cneagles.com/live.
