JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (7-1) head softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield moved to career win 998 Monday afternoon with a doubleheader split with Georgia College (7-3) at Mossy Creek.
The Eagles fell in game one in extra innings 6-4, before taking game two 9-5. With the win in the second game, Carson-Newman snapped a four-game losing streak to the Bobcats.
Game one: Georgia College 6, Carson-Newman 4 (eight innings)
Carson-Newman left 12 base runners stranded as Georgia College used a four-run eighth to put enough distance with the Eagles to take the game one victory.
The Eagles left 12 stranded in the contest.
The teams both put two runs on the board in the third inning, a 2-2 tie that would be maintained for the next six innings.
The Bobcats handed the Eagles their first deficit of the season when in the top of the third with a two-out rally. A Mikayla Sparks double to left over Kelli Hensley's (Knoxville, Tenn.) head scored Whitney Okvist from third. Ali Leroy followed that up with another double, this one down the right field line to give the Bobcats the initial 2-0 advantage.
Carson-Newman erased it in the bottom half of the frame with a two-out rally of its own. Hensley led off the inning with a single through the left side before Jeanie Marie Perrucci (Duluth, Ga.) pushed Hensley to second. She advanced to third on a Brittany Hefner (Talbott, Tenn.) single to right.
With two out, Sara Kelley (Ooltewah, Tenn.) lofted a ball to deep left. It bounced off the wall over the outstretched glove of Leroy to clear Hensley and Hefner from the bases. The pair of RBI were Kelley's team-leading 14th and 15th of the season.
Carson-Newman would threaten to take the lead in both the sixth and seventh innings. In the sixth, the Eagles had runners at the corners with one out in the sixth; but back-to-back groundouts by Hensley and Hannah Morrison (Jasper, Tenn.) ended the frame.
Hefner lined into a double play in the seventh that shackled these Eagles offensive efforts to avoid extra innings.
Georgia College pounced in the eighth with RBI singles down the left field line from Faith Flanders and Becca Olson. A sacrifice fly from Danielle Knight pushed the Bobcats lead to three. A Cassie Lyons (Knoxville, Tenn.) wild pitch brought Olson in to score from third to finish the scoring for the Bobcats.
The Eagles made things interesting in the eighth thanks to doubles to left from Caitlyn Lance (East Ridge, Tenn.) and Lyons. Lance scored the international runner Kelley, while Lyons plated Lance. The Eagles had the game winning run on first in Jessica Morgan (Ooltewah, Tenn.), but Elayna Siebert (Knoxville, Tenn.) grounded out to third to end the game with the bases juiced.
Sarah Howard (Georgetown, Ky.) was handed her first loss of the year (3-1) after pitching 7.1 innings and allowing the six runs. Lyons pitched two-thirds of an inning in relief.
Carly Lewis collected the win for the Bobcats to move to 2-1 after pitching 3.2 innings in relief.
The Eagles were just seven-of-25 at the plate with runners and three-for-11 with two outs on the board.
Game two: Carson-Newman 9, Georgia College 5
Carson-Newman saw the Bobcats take the opening advantage for a second consecutive game. The Bobcats hopped out to a 1-0 advantage on a Whitney Horton grounder to second that scored Leroy from third.
The Eagles got out of the inning and promptly went to work offensively.
Hensley led off the inning with a single before Lyons sacrifice bunted her to second. Kelley then mashed an RBI double to right to even the game. But C-N wasn't done for the inning. After a Lance walk, Siebert singled to left to bring Kelley around for another run. Bobcat starter Flanders walled Morgan and Hayley Burnette (Rossville, Ga.) back-to-back to bring in another run.
GC retook the lead in the top of the second with a three-spot, bolstered by four hits and an error by the Eagles and Perrucci in center. Carly Lewis provided a two-RBI single to left in the inning to score Sparks and Okvist. Walls came around on a two-base error by Perrucci.
Not to be outdone, Carson-Newman popped the Bobcats for four runs in the bottom of the inning to retake the lead and go up three runs.
With the bases loaded and one out, Siebert reached on an error by the first baseman to bring Hensley in after she led of the innings with a single down the leftfield line.
Morgan collected her first RBI of the year with another single, this time to right, to bring Kelley in. Lance wound up scoring on a throwing error on the play by the right fielder.
A Burnette single through the left side finished the scoring for the inning for the Eagles.
Carson-Newman would add to its tally in the bottom of the third on a Hensley inside-the-park home run, her second of the season. A two-out double in the fifth from Perrucci would push the Eagles lead to five as she brought home Siebert after she tripled to right center to lead off the inning.
Davis cruised along in the circle for the Eagles the next three innings until the top of the seventh when Horton homered to lead off the frame and bring the Bobcats within four. However, three consecutive groundouts to Davis ended the game.
Davis moved to 3-0 on the season after the complete game victory. She struck out two, the home run she surrendered was the only extra base hit she allowed.
Carson-Newman saw its leadoff batter get on board in every inning of game two.
Kazee-Hollifield can win her 1,000th career game as head coach of the Eagles if C-N sweeps Limestone Thursday at 1:30 p.m. Coverage of that game on the Eagle Sports Network will be available online at cneagles.com/live.
-CN-
