BRISTOL, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (17-16) found itself down by four runs early on and clawed all the way back to tie the game, just for King (10-22) to hit a late home run to hold off the Eagles comeback effort Tuesday afternoon in Bristol.
"Our swings were uncharacteristic from what we've seen recently," Carson-Newman baseball coach Tom Griffin said. "Maybe were trying to do too much at the plate. We did chip away at the deficit, we just couldn't get the big hit when we needed to. The strikeouts were way higher than I'd like it to be in a midweek game too. I should've bunted there with no one out with two on in the 9th and I regret not doing that. It was not the right decision, especially playing on the road. I thought we played good defense, especially Cole Nathan who made some impressive plays. We have things to learn from to get ready for Anderson this weekend."
The win for the Tornado ends a seven-game losing streak against Carson-Newman. Its King's first win in the series in four years and first home win over the Eagles in six seasons.
The one-run loss is the first time this season that the Eagles have been on the wrong side of a one-run game. Prior to this loss, C-N was 6-0 in one-run games this season.
Aiden Gibson recorded his ninth multi-hit game of the season with two base knocks. Logan Floyd had two hits as well and drove in two RBI for. It's the freshman's eighth multi-hit game and third game with multiple RBI.
King scored four times in the opening inning. After a hit by pitch and a single, Garcia hit a ground-rule double down the right field line to open the scoring. Another run scored on a wild pitch, which was then proceeded by Michael Starrs hitting a two-run shot over the left field wall.
Carson-Newman answered back in the top of the second inning. A four-pitch walk to Logan Floyd (Adairsville, Ga.) and a bunt single from (Cleveland, Tenn.) put runners on with just one out. Cole Nathan (Knoxville, Tenn.) muscled a ball through the right side to score both runners and make it a 4-2 game.
With two runners in scoring position, C-N scored a run on a fielder's choice to draw within a run after three innings.
Carson-Newman's pitching staff was excellent to limit King's damage after the first inning. Xavier Hart got a pop out to end the fourth inning, stranding a runner at third base.
The defense came up big in the next half inning. A two-out double to right field almost extended the lead but 9-4-2 relay to the plate gunned down the runner to keep it a one-run game. Spencer Williams (Seymour, Tenn.), Nathan and Frankie Delgado (Deltona, Fla.) combined for the out at the dish.
The Eagles tied it in the seventh inning. With the bases loaded and one out, James Denten (Mt. Prospect, Ill.) hit a line drive to right field that was caught, but Will Gibbs (Harrisburg, Ill.) tagged up from third to score without a throw to tie the game after seven innings.
After a 1-2-3 bottom half from Jacob Overbeck (Morris, Ill.), C-N had a prime opportunity to take its first lead. Sam Astern and Nathan drew back-to-back walks to load the bases but the Eagles were unable to scratch a run across.
After C-N failed to take advantage of its opportunity to grab the lead, King did. A hit by pitch put a runner on with one out and Garret Huffman hit a go-ahead home run for the Tornado.
The Eagles made things happen in the ninth. A dropped fly ball and a walk got the first two batters of the inning aboard. Floyd singled into the gap in right center field to bring C-N within a run with two outs to work with. The comeback effort fell just short as C-N struck out twice to end with game, leaving runners on the corners to fall by one run.
Carson-Newman stranded eleven runners in the game while King left just five men aboard. The Eagles struck out 11 times, its just the second time in the last 13 games they have struck out double digit times.
Seven different relievers combined to blank King in innings two through seven.
King got six hits from six different players with Starrs and Huffman hitting home runs.
Carson-Newman returns home this weekend as it welcomes Anderson to the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex for a three-game series starting Friday afternoon 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.
