HARTSVILLE, S.C. – With a quick turnaround between games, Carson-Newman (24-25) never found its groove offensively, falling to Newberry (26-26) 8-1 on Saturday afternoon in Hartsville.
Carson-Newman remains alive in the conference tournament but is now in the loser's bracket and will await the winner between Coker and Wingate for a game that is scheduled to be played at 5:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
Newberry carried over its offensive prowess from yesterday's 18 run performance into this game as well. Henry Gibson singled in a run with a base hit up the middle to start the scoring. Two more base hits followed to plate two more runs to make it a 4-0 game. Chandler Mims capped the scoring with a RBI groundout and the Wolves led 5-0 after one inning.
Logan Floyd (Adairsville, Ga.) singled down the left field line to score McLain from second base and C-N made it a 5-1 game after three innings.
The Wolves added onto the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Gibson doubled into the left center field gap to score Donovan Ford and the lead extended for Newberry to 6-1.
C-N let an opportunity go by the wayside in the top of the fifth inning. Cole Nathan (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Spencer Williams (Seymour, Tenn.) drew back-to-back walks to start the inning. Back-to-back strikeouts made it two outs and still runners stuck at first and second base. Floyd was able to single up the middle, but Nathan got caught in a rundown after rounding third base. Newberry executed the rundown to perfection and escaped the inning.
Free passes were the theme of the sixth inning as three walks and two hit by pitches plated two more runs for the Wolves and it was an 8-1 game after six innings.
Carson-Newman put runners on first and third in the top of the eighth inning but came up empty once more.
It was that same case in the top of the ninth inning, as C-N got back-to-back hits to begin the inning but could not plate those runners.
Carson-Newman outhit Newberry 10-9 and left eleven runners on base.
Blake Cooper suffered his fifth loss of the season allowing four runs and three hits. Ryan Higgins gave C-N 4 1/3 innings on the mound with two runs allowed. Colby Phillips (Baxter, Tenn.) recorded the final seven outs of the game, allowing two hits and striking out one.
Hunter French earned his sixth win of the season allowing six hits and a run with two strikeouts. Four different Newberry hitters had two hits, led by Jomar Lugo who drove in three runs.
Stay up to date with the start time tonight's contest on X at @CN_eagles. Fans can listen along with the action at cneagles.com/live. A video stream of the contest is available with a subscription.
