VIDEO: Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Interview
VIDEO: Elayna Siebert Interview
VIDEO: Lindsay Dean Interview
VIDEO: Highlights
The Eagles held on in game one 3-1, before a run in the bottom of the fifth of game two handed C-N its fifth walkoff run rule win of game two 9-1.
"We're just playing very relaxed right now," head softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "It starts with defense, but the pitching we've had of late has been very, very good."
Pitching shined for Carson-Newman. Danielle Kranz (Fairfield, Calif.) struck out six in her five innings of work in game two. Sarah Howard (Georgetown, Ky.) carried a perfect game through four innings, a no-hitter through five and lost her shutout in the seventh.
"Today was the best and hardest I've seen Sarah Howard throw," Kazee-Hollifield said. "Danielle Kranz, all of her pitches were working. This team is playing team ball, and I say that when we've got a pitcher with an 11-1 record playing first base in Lindsay Dean. Whatever I've asked, they've done. They go in and roll up their sleeves, and that's all I can ask them to do."
Every Eagle save for two had multiple hits through the doubleheader. Haley Taylor (Strawberry Plains, Tenn.) collected her fourth, three-hit game of the season. Elayna Siebert (Knoxville, Tenn.) bashed her eighth homer of the year and Lindsay Dean (Coeburn, Va.) had her first career four-RBI day.
"Our players aren't settling for anything," Kazee-Hollifield said. "I love that about this team. For game two, we had a mission where our goal was to score a run every inning. It can't be the same three hitting, we have to be in attack mode all seven innings."
Game one: Carson-Newman 3, LMU 1
A three-run third proved to be all the offense Carson-Newman would need to secure the game one victory over the Railsplitters.
Bre Lockett (Fontana, Calif.) worked a seven-pitch walk to get aboard with one out. She was scored promptly by Siebert who drove a line drive dinger off Carson-Newman's championship banners hanging above the Eagles' bullpen along the right field line.
With a 2-0 lead, the Eagles pushed another run across when Taylor tripled to right center and came in on a Talisa Fiame (Pacifica, Calif.) single through the heart of the infield.
Lincoln Memorial made a late charge in the seventh when Amanda Snow was hit by a pitch. A Meredith Johnson double to the wall in left center gave the Railsplitters a pair of runners in scoring position and brought the tying run to the plate. Megan Tice drove in Snow with a basehit up the middle; but Savannah Couch was unable to keep the game going as Howard struck her out to end the threat.
Howard pitched a gem. She worked 4.2 innings of perfect ball before hitting Snow with a pitch in the fourth. Howard lost her no-hitter in the fifth on a bloop single to right of the end of Couch's bat. Between the start of her game with LMU and the end of Monday's doubleheader with Erskine, Howard successfully retired 24 consecutive batters without anyone reaching base.
The run LMU scored in the seventh snapped a string of 27 consecutive scoreless innings for the Eagles' defense. Howard improved to 6-3 on the year with the win.
Brianna Taylor took the loss to LMU after giving up the three spot in the third. She drops to 7-9 on the year.
Game two: Carson-Newman 9, LMU 1
The Eagles eschewed any drama in game two by scoring in every inning to walk off with a 9-1 run-rule win in five innings.
It was the Railsplitters who actually got the scoring party started when Johnson ripped a ball into the pine trees in right with two out in the top of the first.
Lincoln Memorial's lead would be short-lived, Fiame lifted a two-out RBI single to right to tie the game in the bottom of the first before Lockett gave the Eagles the lead for good in the second.
A Howard single started that inning and was followed by a Burnette walk. That set the stage for Lockett to lift a ball off the wall in left center and clear the bases.
C-N added to its advantage in the third when Taylor tripled to left. Brooke Ramsey (San Mateo, Calif.) struck out but reached on an error by the catcher to give the Eagles runners on the corners. Lindsay Dean (Coeburn, Va.) then cleared the bases with a single through the left side to push the Eagles' lead to four.
Carson-Newman hung a third consecutive crooked number on the scoreboard in the fourth thanks this time to an RBI single to right from Ramsey and a two-RBI double to center from Dean.
Elayna Siebert (Knoxville, Tenn.) helped the Eagles walk it off in the fifth. Erin Stanley (Coeburn, Va.) pinch hit to lead off the inning and knocked a base hit through the left side. She took second on a Jessica Morgan (Ooltewah, Tenn.) bunt single and then came in to score to end the game when Siebert laced a ball through the left side to end things by virtue of the run rule.
Siebert extended her hitting streak to 14 games with the homer in game one and a pair of base knocks in game two.
Kranz got the win in the circle to move to 11-4 on the year. She worked the complete game with six strikeout against three walks. The home run was the only base hit she gave up.
Snow started and took the loss for LMU to fall to 1-1.
The pair of wins moves Carson-Newman back into a tie for first in the SAC standings with the Anderson Trojans.
The Eagles hit the road Saturday to play two with Wingate. Coverage will be available through a free high definition stream through the Wingate Sports Network at wingatebulldogs.com.
