VIDEO: Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.—Carson-Newman stumbled out of the gate in a double-header slate of contests Saturday afternoon at the Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Softball Complex as the Eagles fell 4-3 in nine innings in game one and were run-ruled 12-4 in a five-inning game two.
The Eagles came into the day riding an 11-game winning streak over the Saints that dated all the way back to the 2010 season. The 26th and 27th all-time meetings between the two programs greatly differed from the series record. Entering Saturday's double-header, C-N had only been defeated by the Saints on one occasion and held a 24-1 overall record.
"Limestone came out and played two great ballgames today," coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said postgame. "It always starts with defense. Then we go to the pitching and that will let you know how many runs you need to score. I don't think we are particular knocking the cover off the ball, but if you're asking what you do the best out of the three right now, it's hitting. That's how poorly we are executing in the other two categories as far as defense and pitching. We will see what happens, but there is only one way to go right now and that's to get better."
Getting off to slow starts were crucial in the Eagles' pair of losses on the afternoon.
Game one:
After yielding three runs in the top of the first inning, the Carson-Newman Eagles battled back to force extra innings only to come up short in the ninth to lose 4-3 for the first loss against the Saints in six years.
Limestone hammered the score board first. The Saints pounced out to a 3-0 lead. A Paige Bolding double, Caroline Hill triple and Emma Swearingen double helped Limestone strutted out to a 2-0 lead. The Saints extended it to 3-0 on a Sam Thornton base hit. Aside from that, C-N starting pitcher Allison Webster (Charlestown, Ind.) struck out the side in the inning.
"We would have liked to have that first inning back," Kazee-Hollifield said. "Other than that, Webster pitched a great game. If so many runs score and it's not a good hitting day for us, it can be a tough day."
The junior had tallied seven strikeouts by the third, however, Carson-Newman's offense was struggling at the same time.
A two-out first inning triple from Elayna Siebert (Knoxville, Tenn.) was the only offense the Eagles mustered until the third. Carson-Newman put two aboard with walks from Donna Ryan (Orlando, Fla.) and Kristen Toppel (Roanoke, Va.) before a Siebert single loaded the bases.
Cheyenne Boles (Knoxville, Tenn.) then drew a walk from Limestone pitcher Klinnin Carson to bring in the Eagles' first run of the day. A Katie Pritchett (Ringgold, Ga.) fielder's choice ended Carson-Newman's threat, however, before any further damage could be done.
The Eagles would push another run across in the fifth. Toppel drew a one-out walk and then took second on a wild pitch. Siebert singled to center field to drive the sophomore from Roanoke in.
Carson-Newman was able to tie the game in seventh. Shon Jordan (Hermitage, Tenn.) slid underneath a tag at the plate on a Boles sacrifice fly to right. With the bases loaded following a Pritchett walk, Talisa Fiame (Pacifica, Calif.) came to the plate. The senior ended up grounding into a fielder's choice to end the inning to send the game to extra innings.
Though both squads were awarded a runner on second base to begin their offensive strikes in the surplus innings, neither Carson-Newman nor Limestone could push a run across in the eighth inning.
Webster allowed a one-out walk to Erika Hansen to put two runners on before getting Sam Thornton and Sydney Turner to fly out to first and right field. In the bottom half of the inning, Carson was able to sit the Eagles down in 1-2-3 fashion to force another inning of play.
The top of the ninth saw Turner take a free base at second and come all the way around to score the winning run on an RBI single from Tessa Faucette. Webster was able to escape the inning without allowing further damage.
Down by one and the top of the order due up was what the Eagles had to work with in the bottom of the ninth. Toppel began the inning by popping out to short. Jordan then came through with a single to left field to put the go-ahead run on base.
A Siebert groundout and a Boles flyout would be all Carson-Newman could muster following the single as the Eagles fell to Saints 4-3 in nine innings of softball.
"Something that we work on every day in practice is to be an effective bunting team," Kazee-Hollifield said. "You also need to put the ball out in the grass. That is situational hitting and something we constantly work on. I was just happy to have somebody on second to start the inning."
Carson grabbed the win for Limestone after going the distance for five hits and two earned runs. She struck out eight while notching 137 pitches on the afternoon.
The loss was created to Webster after completing nine innings of her own of three earned run ball. The junior gave up seven hits and tallied nine strikeouts through 160 pitches.
Game two:
The hot-hitting Saints club rode the momentum of game one's extra innings heroics to pound out a 12-4 run-rule victory to cap off the double-header sweep of the Eagles in game two of action Saturday afternoon at the Vick.
Like in game one, Limestone jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to RBI hits from Bolding and Swearingen, and a two-run bomb over the left field fence from Thornton.
Carson-Newman responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Pritchett singled to left to bring home Toppel who led off the inning with a single of her own. Fiame then followed up with another RBI single a batter later, bringing home Siebert from third base.
The Saints tacked on another run in the second as Maybry doubled to deep left center with two outs. The outfielder later advanced to third on a Dean, who came in to relieve Carson-Newman starting pitcher Danielle Kranz (Fairfiel, Calif.), wild pitch and then trotted the additional 60 feet across home plate on a pass ball a few pitches later.
The Eagles would then respond again in the bottom of the second on a Siebert one-run single to left field. Carson-Newman still trailed 5-3 entering the third inning.
Limestone exploded in the third inning for seven runs off eight hits. Caroline Hill led off the inning with a double to center and was waived around on a Swearingen double to right field. RBI hits from Hansen, Faucette and Maybry would then plate five more Saint base runners and Hill's RBI single to left center would bring home the seventh run of the inning for Limestone.
That would be all the scoring the Saints would account for in the contest as they cruised to the eight-run, run-rule victory in five innings of play.
The Eagles were able to dent the scoreboard one more time in the fourth inning thanks to another RBI single from Siebert—the fourth and final run of the game.
Josie Weber recorded the win by working all five innings of play giving up only seven hits for four runs while using only 102 pitches on the afternoon. Kranz was charged with the loss for Carson-Newman after going only one inning and giving up four earned runs.
Eagle freshman Nicole Blackburn (Knoxville, Tenn.) came on to pitch for Carson-Newman with only one away in the third inning and was able to go the final two and two thirds innings giving up only one hit. The freshman only needed 16 pitches to dispose of the 10 batters she faced on the day.
Carson-Newman will be at it again on Monday looking to break out of its latest four of six losing drought as the Eagles travel to Concord for a pair of afternoon games beginning at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m.
To keep up with everything Carson-Newman softball related, follow us online at cneagles.com and on twitter at @CNathletics.
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