"They (King) had played very good teams thus far and played L-R close," Carson-Newman head softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "We feel very good about the two wins today. Our pitching really stood out today and we hit the ball well. We left some people on base, but our kids came out attaching today from the first pitch on."
The Eagles tallied 21 hits on the day and only made one error. That combination prompted Kazee-Hollifield to call the sweep the Eagles most complete day of the season.
"Our pitchers gave our infielders groundballs to work with," Kazee-Hollifield said. "We were getting good gound balls to field and that made things easier for our defenders. It doesn't hurt when our pitchers can pitch with leads. These would be all-around, our most complete games of the season from offense, to pitching to defense. I thought our girls really wanted to compete today."
Bre Lockett (Fontana, Calif.) went 5-for-8 from the field with a homer and six RBI. Brooke Ramsey (San Mateo, Calif.) drove in three runs while Kristen Toppel (Roanoke, Va.) made it back-to-back games with home runs.
"Lockett is just knocking the cover off the ball," Kazee-Hollifield said. "Toppel also had a great day. And then Taylor and Ramsey each found ways to drive in runs. It's the kind of doubleheader where you had an all-around great day, it's tough to remember everyone who did well."
Game one: Carson-Newman 8, King 0 (six innings)
Carson-Newman jumped on King out of the gate. With two on and no one out, Ramsey laced a base hit through the left side to score Haley Taylor (Strawberry Plain, Tenn.) and Toppel. Lockett extended her hitting streak to 10 games and drove in a run with a single to center to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead after an inning.
Toppel went yard with a two-run moon shot to left on a 2-0 pitch to extend the Eagles lead to 5-0.
The Eagles left three stranded between the third and fourth innings, but got to work offensively in the fifth again.
Back-to-back singles from Lockett and Talisa Fiame (Pacifica, Calif.) both drove in runs and gave the Eagles a 7-0 edge over the Tornado.
Carson-Newman activated the run rule in the sixth when Ramsey singled up the gut to score Toppel.
Danielle Kranz (Fairfield, Calif.) struck out two of the final King batters she faced to collect the shutout win – her third of the season. Kranz improved to 8-2 with the win. She scattered three hits in the contest. Morgan Lowe took the loss for King to fall to 1-3. She struck out one Eagle and walked five, surrendering eight hits. All seven runs she allowed were earned.
Game two: Carson-Newman 7, King 2
Much like game one, Carson-Newman dropped a three-spot on the Tornado to open up the contest. After back-to-back walks to Taylor and Toppel to begin the game, Ramsey singled up the middle to put the first run on the board for C-N. Lockett doubled to left to plate two to round out the scoring in the frame for the Eagles.
The Tornado got a run back in the bottom of the frame off a wild pitch. Amazingly, the Tornado couldn't do any more damage than a run after loading the bases with no one out.
The Eagles and Tornado traded scoreless frames for the next four innings before the Eagles broke through in the sixth. Cassie Lyons (Knoxville, Tenn.) was able to scamper home on a dropped fly by the center fielder. Toppel then doubled to center to drive in Taylor and give the Eagles a four-run cushion.
Lockett clobbered her fourth homer of the season with a 1-0 pitch over the left field wall to propel the Eagles' lead to 7-1. The Torando got a run back in the seventh with two out, but couldn't continue the rally.
Lindsay Dean (Coeburn, Va.) notched the win for the Eagles to move to 7-1 on the season. She struck out eight and only surrendered four hits. Hollyn Franklin took the loss for King to drop to 0-3 after giving up 11 hits.
Kelsie Craighead was the only King player with multiple hits on the day.
The Eagles hit the road Tuesday for a doubleheader at Georgia College, who has won 10 straight.
