VIDEO: Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Interview
VIDEO: Talisa Fiame Interview
VIDEO: Bre Lockett Interview
VIDEO: Highlights
USC Aiken rallied with a three-run seventh to take game one 4-2 before the Eagles tallied 14 hits to run away with game two 10-4.
"They are a good team and I don't want to take anything away from them," head coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "But this was another time where I feel like we let another one split away. We have to encourage our kids to finish ball games. We've got to continue to pitch better, but there are some balls that are getting up in critical times. We did better defensively, but in game one, we didn't win two out of the three categories (defense, pitching and hitting) in game one. We need to start taking advantage of opportunities to knock runs in."
Elayna Siebert (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Talisa Fiame (Pacifica, Calif.) starred at the plate for the Eagles. Both players went 5-for-8 at the dish for the doubleheader. Siebert turned in her fourth, four-hit game of her career in game two, while Fiame had three hits in a game for the first time ever.
Game one: USC Aiken 4, Carson-Newman 2
Carson-Newman hurt itself at times in game one. The Eagles left 11 runners stranded as the Pacers scored four unanswered to collect the comeback win.
C-N took an initial 2-0 lead thanks to runs in the second and third innings.
Bre Lockett (Fontana, Calif.) drew a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the second to bring in a run before Siebert bashed her sixth home run of the season over the wall in right to give the Eagles a 2-0 cushion.
The Pacers got a run back in the fifth when Sarah Montei drew a bases loaded walk to bring in a run.
USC Aiken threatened to add more in the fifth, as well as the fourth with the bases loaded in each inning. But the Eagles turned a rare 1-2-3 double play to get out of the fourth and a 5-3 double play to end the threat in both innings.
The Pacers would rally in the seventh, however. With their seven through nine hitters due up, none of whom had a batting average better than .200 coming into the series, the Pacers got timely hits from the bottom of the order to charge ahead.
Magan Thrower doubled to left center to begin the inning before Andre Daring hit her first home run of the season into the pine trees in left to give the Pacers the lead.
USCA got an insurance run with a Samantha Chubb RBI single up the middle.
Carson-Newman tried to put together a two-out rally in the bottom of the inning, but fell short. Katie Pritchett (Ringgold, Ga.) singled to left and Fiame went through the middle to put the tying run on. However, Danielle Kranz (Fairfield, Calif.) struck out to end the game.
Sarah Howard (Georgetown, Ky.) took the loss for the Eagles to fall to 3-3 for the year. She gave up eight hits and the four runs in six innings of work. Kranz worked an inning of relief for the Eagles. Taylor Morgan grabbed the complete game win for the Pacers to improve to 6-3. She struck out nine Eagles.
The loss marked the second for Carson-Newman in 35 games over the last two seasons for the Eagles where it lost a lead after six innings.
Game two: Carson-Newman 10, USC Aiken 4
C-N scored eight unanswered runs powered by two big innings to leave no doubt in game two against the Pacers.
USCA started with the lead after bringing a run across in the first.
C-N countered with runs in both the second and third innings. Pritchett came in to score on a fielding error by the Pacers' second baseman in the second before Brooke Ramsey (San Mateo, Calif.) nailed a ball to right center to bring in Siebert in the third.
The Pacers countered with a two-run bomb from the bottom of the order, this one from the bat of Thrower in the fourth.
That dinger proved to be the wake up call the Eagles needed. C-N exploded for eight runs over the next two innings to put the Pacers away.
The action started in the bottom of the fourth with a quintet of base hits. Haley Taylor (Strawberry Plains, Tenn.) Lockett, Jessica Morgan (Ooltewah, Tenn.) Siebert and Ramsey all drove in runs as the Eagles brought five across in the frame.
The bats stayed hot in the fifth. Lockett clobbered her team-best ninth moonshot over the wall in center for a two-run blast and a 9-3 lead. The Eagles extended it to a seven-run lead off a Siebert double to the wall in left that scored Morgan.
The Pacers mustered a run in the seventh off a leadoff home run, but could draw no closer.
Lindsay Dean (Coeburn, Va.) got the win in the circle for C-N. She worked the complete game, surrendering eight hits. She struck out three without walking anyone. Dean is now 11-1 on the year.
Danielle Payne took her second loss of the season to fall to 7-2. She gave up 13 hits in five innings of work.
Carson-Newman returns to SAC play Saturday with a pivotal road contest at Lenoir-Rhyne. First pitch from Hickory is set for 2 p.m.
