YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – Despite a 12-hit performance at the plate, Carson-Newman (22-18) left 11 runners on base in a 7-4 loss to #12 Young Harris Tuesday afternoon at Zell B. Miller Field.
"It was a disappointing day," Carson-Newman baseball coach Tom Griffin said. "Obviously, Young Harris is a top team in the region. We competed well and had opportunities on offense. Took the lead in the 5th but poor decision and effort allows them back in the game. Late inning relief was not able to keep the ball in the yard. Then, poor baserunning in the 8th inning ended any rally."
Four different Eagles had multi-hit efforts at the dish. Dalton McLain, Logan Floyd, Nicholas Castellana and Trey Miller all had two-hit days. Floyd was the only hitter to drive in a run, with three others driving in a run as well.
Dalton McLain (Greeneville, Tenn.) singled and stole second base but was stranded in scoring position in the top of the first inning.
Young Harris began the scoring in the bottom of the second inning, Jarrett Ford doubled to left to plate a run with two outs.
It took C-N until the 5th inning to score, but it did so effectively to grab its first lead. After a leadoff hit, Spencer Williams (Seymour, Tenn.) singled up the middle to score Trey Miller (Rocky Point, N.Y.) and level the score. Two batters later, James Denten (Mt Prospect, Ill.) hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Williams and the Eagles led for the first time. One pitch later, Logan Floyd (Adairsville, Ga.) doubled into the left center field gap to cap a three-run fifth inning.
The Mountain Lions did their job and answered back in the bottom half of the fifth inning. YHC scored a run off an error to draw within one. Two batters later, Jeremy Begora singled through the left side to tie the game at 3. Coltin Reynolds (Powell, Tenn.) entered the game out of the bullpen and got a pop up and a groundball out to escape a bases-loaded jam to keep the game tied.
Carson-Newman was able to put runners on the corners with just one out in the 7th, but was unable to take advantage of the scoring opportunity and the game stayed tied.
YHC did more damage with two outs and took the lead in the bottom of the inning. A two-out double was followed by a home run to give the Mountain Lions a two-run lead after seven innings.
The Eagles made it a one-run game in the eighth inning, after a throwing error on a bunt attempt scored Miller and sent a runner to third base with no one out. C-N never got that run home. With runners at first and third and one out, Denten hit a line drive right to the shortstop who doubled up the runner at first to end the inning.
That momentum allowed Young Harris to score twice more in the bottom of the eighth on a home run and a double to make it a three-run game.
Carson-Newman got quality pitching early in the game, as Ryan Higgins and Brock Culpepper combined to throw the first four innings and allow just one run. Reynolds recorded five outs in the six batters he faced.
Jack Enrico had two hits and two RBI to pace a 12-hit attack offensively. Brady Caloway got the win on the mound throwing one inning of relief work allowing a hit in the six batters he faced.
Carson-Newman closes out the road portion of its regular season slate with a visit to Wingate this weekend. The three-game series begins Friday at 6:00 p.m. The contests will air with an audio-only stream on cneagles.com/live. The contests can also be viewed on FloSports by going to cneagles.com/flobase
