VIDEO: Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Interview
VIDEO: Haley Taylor Interview
VIDEO: Sarah Howard Interview
VIDEO: Highlights
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (26-8) dominated defensively to pull off a shutout sweep of Erskine (12-16) Monday afternoon at the Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Softball Complex.
The Eagles won game one 2-0, before walking off with a four-run bottom of the fifth and an 8-0 win in game two. Erskine didn't see a leadoff batter reach base until the fourth inning of game two and saw only two base runners make it to third the entirety of the doubleheader.
Carson-Newman head coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said the Eagles' pitching kept the Flying Fleet off kilter the entire afternoon.
"They were ahead in the count, getting a lot of first strikes," Kazee-Hollifield said. "Always a key component is getting that first out every inning. I love it when we can do that."
Sarah Howard (Georgetown, Ky.) worked the two-hit complete game shutout in game one that saw her retire the final 13 batters of the contest in succession. Danielle Kranz (Fairfield, Calif.) picked up where Howard left off in game two and struck out seven batters in the contest.
"Our defense is playing better," Kazee-Hollifield said. "Howard and Kranz both had some big strikeouts, but it was the same thing at Lenoir-Rhyne. We had some instances where a runner got to second, but then we got a timely ground ball or fly ball and our defense was able to make that play."
Haley Taylor (Strawberry Plain, Tenn.) led the Eagles offensively going 5-for-8 through the doubleheader with four runs scored. She laced her fourth triple of the year. Elayna Siebert extended her hitting streak to 12 consecutive games with base hits in both contests.
Game one: Carson-Newman 2, Erskine 0
Carson-Newman didn't waste any time grabbing a lead on Erskine in game one. Taylor ripped a one-out base knock through the left side before promptly stealing second.
Elayna Siebert (Knoxville, Tenn.) then laced a line drive to centerfield that bounced in and out of the glove of Jill Sprague. Siebert took second on the error while Taylor trotted home.
Carson-Newman would add a run in a similar situation in the third. Taylor singled, took second by stealing the base, except this time Siebert hit a fly ball that landed in left center for an RBI double.
The Eagles cruised along defensively with their 2-0 lead for the rest of the game. Of the 13 consecutive batters Howard retired, eight were put out on fly outs, four on ground outs and one via a swinging strikeout.
Howard improved to 5-3 on the year with the complete-game victory. She struck out a season high five batters and didn't issue a walk on the afternoon. Danica Newton took the loss for the Flying Fleet to fall to 3-8.
Game two: Carson-Newman 8, Erskine 0 (five innings)
The Eagles offense roared to life to start game two with a four-spot in the bottom of the first. Bre Lockett (Fontana, Calif.), Taylor and Siebert started the day with three consecutive singles, with Siebert's – an RBI base knock to left – drawing first blood as Lockett scored from second.
Carson-Newman kept the party rolling with a Talisa Fiame (Pacifica, Calif.) RBI single through the right side and an Erin Stanley (Coeburn, Va.) RBI groundout to third.
Lindsay Dean (Coeburn, Va.) reached on an error by the shortstop that allowed Fiame to score to round out the four-spot to begin the game.
The Eagles ended things early with a walk-off run rule win in the fifth for a fourth time this season. Another four-spot did the trick for the Eagles, this one thanks to a two-out rally.
A throwing error by the Flying Fleet catcher brought Hayley Burnette (Rossville, Ga.) in from third after she walked, stole second and moved to third on a fielder's choice. Burnette's run made it 5-0 C-N.
Taylor made it 6-0 with a gutbuster of a base hit up the middle to plate Lockett from third. Brooke Ramsey (San Mateo, Calif.) kept the inning rolling with a single through the heart of the infield that made it 7-0 as Taylor scored.
Carson-Newman closed out the game early thanks to Cassie Lyons (Knoxville, Tenn.). She dropped a ball in fair territory just inside the left field line for a game-ending single the scored Siebert and gave C-N the 8-0 run-rule win.
Kranz grabbed the 10th win of her freshman campaign. She fired seven strikeouts and allowed just four hits.
Candace Fitch took the loss for Erskine to fall to 5-4 on the year.
The run rule win was Carson-Newman's 11th of the season. The Eagles have now won three straight games via shutouts, up to 10 on the season.
C-N jumps back into conference play Wednesday with a 2 p.m. doubleheader against LMU. Coverage will be available on the Eagle Sports Network with a free high definition stream at cneagles.com/live.
