"Both Cassie (Lyons) and Kalyn (Davis) pitched well enough to win both ballgames," Carson-Newman head softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "And our defense played well enough to put us in a position to win. But we just aren't very disciplined offensively and its showing."
Carson-Newman left 20 runners stranded between the two games.
Game one: Carson-Newman 1, Tusculum 0
Carson-Newman left nine runners stranded through the first six innings of game one before finally punching through in the seventh.
After back-to-back flyouts to begin the frame, Sara Kelley (Ooltewah, Tenn.) singled down the left field line. Brittany Hefner brought her around by yanking a 1-0 pitch into left center field for a double that scored Kelley from three bases away to give the Eagles the win.
The game-winning run batted in is Hefner's fifth of the season.
The Eagles allowed the tying run aboard in the seventh off a one out single, but shut the door with a strike out and a flyout to left center.
Cassie Lyons (Knoxville, Tenn.) moved to 6-1 in the circle with the victory and collected her first shutout of the year off a season-best six strikeouts. The three hits Lyons allowed were the fewest for C-N's pitching staff since giving up four on March 23 to Pfeiffer.
Kelly King took the loss for Tusculum to fall to 17-11.
Kelli Hensley extended a hit streak to 13 straight with her 12th three-hit game of the year and her 22nd multi-hit game. She was three-for-four at the dish with a trio of singles.
Game two: Tusculum 3, Carson-Newman 0
Tusculum pounced on the Eagles early with a two run Katie Stroinski home run in the first inning before adding an insurance run in the sixth off a Courtney Hutcherson squeeze play.
The Eagles had their best chances for runs in the first and final innings. In the first, the Eagles had runners at the corners thanks to a walk of Hensley and a hit by pitch of Kelley. However, back-to-back flyouts to left and center ended that threat for the Eagles.
Then, in the seventh, Carson-Newman brought runners to the corners following a Hensley single up the middle. However, with two out, Elayna Siebert (Knoxville, Tenn.) flied out to left to end the game.
Kalyn Davis (Danville, Ky.) took the hardluck loss in the circle after scattering four hits in her six innings of work. She did not allow a hit in innings two through five. She falls to 12-9 on the year.
Eliza Davis picked up the win for Tusculum and her first shutout of her career. She improves to 7-7.
The Eagles return home Friday for senior day against Queens at 1p.m. A free HD stream of the event will be available at cneagles.com/live.
