Vickee Kazee-Hollifield interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (6-0) put four runs on the board in the opening inning of each game of their doubleheader sweep of Belmont Abbey (0-9) en route to 4-1 and 5-0 wins.
The Eagles start the year 6-0 for a second consecutive season; head coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield collects career wins 996 and 997 on her march to become the 22nd coach in all divisions with 1,000 career wins.
"We pitched very effectively today," Kazee-Hollifield said. "Anytime you can scatter three and four hits a game, you'll be happy with that."
Kelli Hensley (Knoxville, Tenn.) provided plenty of pop for the Eagles at the top of the order. The sophomore was five-for-six on the day with three runs scored. In game two, she went four-for-four with an inside-the-park home run down the left field line.
Kalyn Davis (Danville, Ky.) continued a string of 16 consecutive shutout innings to begin her sophomore season with a complete-game, four-hitter in the second game of the twin bill.
"She had complete command of her pitches today," Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "We were glad to see her go a complete game. That'll be crucial for us for her to be able to keep batters off balance like she did today."
Carson-Newman has won nine consecutive games over the Crusaders.
Game one: Carson-Newman 4, Belmont Abbey 1
The Eagles bolted out of the gate in game one. Hensley and Brittany Bass (Auburn, Ga.) walked to lead off the inning. A batter later, Brittany Hefner (Talbott, Tenn.) drilled a ground ball up the gut that brought Hensley around to score from second.
Sara Kelley (Ooltewah, Tenn.) then worked a seven-pitch at bat before bombing her third home run of the season over the wall in left to give the Eagles all the runs they'd need to cruise to the 4-1 victory.
The Crusaders would get their lone run in the fifth on an Alex Faust single up the middle.
Sarah Howard (Georgetown, Ky.) improved to 3-0 on the year in the circle with the complete game of her young career in an orange and blue uniform.
Samantha Jacobs picked up the loss for the Crusaders after striking out nine but walking seven.
Game two: Carson-Newman 5, Belmont Abbey 0
Game two similarly began with a bang for Carson-Newman, this time off the bat of Hensley. She looped a line drive down the left field line that bounced just outside the reach of leftfielder Dani Marietta.
The ball rolled all the way to the wall and Hensley trotted around all four bases for the second homer of her career.
The Eagles weren't done for the inning though. Three batters later, Kelley doubled down the right field line and moved to third on a Hefner single up the middle. With a pair of runners in scoring position, Caitlyn Lance (East Ridge, Tenn.) kept the two-out rally rolling with a single through the heart of the infield that plated Kelley and pushed the Eagles' advantage to 2-0.
Haley Taylor (Jefferson City, Tenn.) then tripled to left, again aided by a mistimed dive by Marietta, to clear Hefner and Lance from the bases and give C-N another 4-0 advantage after the opening inning.
The Crusaders would only advance two baserunners to second or beyond.
The Eagles added a run in the fourth on an Elayna Siebert (Knoxville, Tenn.) RBI single through the heart of the infield.
Davis picked up the win for C-N to move to 2-0. She struck out two, and walked just two. Of her 80 pitches in the complete game, 56 were strikes.
Catelyn Presley took the loss for BAC, dropping to 0-3 on the season.
Carson-Newman's Monday doubleheader with Georgia College and State University has been moved to noon. Coverage is available on the Eagle Sports Network online at cneagles.com/live.
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