AIKEN, S.C. – Carson-Newman (9-5) tallied the biggest win in series history in game two to earn a doubleheader split with USC Aiken (14-6) Saturday afternoon at JH Hatcher Field.
Carson-Newman took game two 7-0 behind home runs from Kristen Toppel (Roanoke, Va.), Lindsay Dean (Coeburn, Va.) and Katie Pritchett (Ringgold, Ga.), as well as stellar pitching from Danielle Kranz (Fairfield, Calif.) to snap a five-game losing streak to Peach Belt Conference institutions.
Taylor Morgan dazzled in game one for the Pacers. She struck out 11 and kept the Eagles hitless until the sixth. That, combined with a grand slam in the fourth was enough to power the Pacers to the win.
"Game one we just had one bad inning," head coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "Of course we couldn't hit the ball either, but that's a credit to their pitcher too. Then game two, we won all three facets. Danielle pitched well, we swung the bat well and had good defense behind it."
The Eagles' three home runs in game two was a season high.
"We finally broke through in game two. Our bats had been nonexistent and they finally just came through," Kazee-Hollifield said. "Danielle generated a ton of ground balls for us. We turned a couple double plays behind her and were able to counteract any base runners they had. Game two was our best performance this season. Hopefully that can carry over and give us a bit of momentum heading into tomorrow and this coming week."
Game one: USC Aiken 4, Carson-Newman 0
One swing of the bat would be the difference between the Eagles and Pacers in the first game of the doubleheader.
Game one opened up as a pitcher's duel for the first two and a half innings before the Pacers threatened in the third. Aiken got a leadoff infield bunt single from Leah Boghosian before back-to-back walks from Sarah Montei and Brielle Jung loaded the bases.
Then, Samantha Chubb planted a pitch over the wall in left for a grand slam to put the Pacers up 4-0. It marked back-to-back games for Chubb with grand slams.
The Eagles could only muster two-out walks from Ashlyn Cooper (Friendsville, Tenn.) in the fourth and Lindsay Dean (Coeburn, Va.) in the fifth. As USC Aiken starter Morgan Lowe dealt a no-hitter into the sixth.
Kristen Toppel (Roanoke, Va.) was able to break up the no-no with a one-out single to short, extending her hitting streak to nine games. However, a strikeout and a fly out to left ended the Eagles' inning.
Allison Webster (Charlestown, Ind.) worked through a bases loaded jam with one out in the fifth and a situation that saw a pair of runners in scoring position with one out in the sixth.
The Eagles would get a single through the left side from Talisa Fiame (Pacifica, Calif.) in the seventh. Fiame moved to second to get Carson-Newman its first runner in scoring position in on the day on a Cheyenne Boles (Knoxville, Tenn.) groundout. However, Katie Pritchett (Ringgold, Ga.) struck out to end the game.
Taylor Morgan dazzled in the circle for the Pacers, striking out 11 on the day to improve to 7-3 in the circle.
Webster was handed the loss for C-N. She falls to 4-4 after 6.0 innings of work with six hits allowed, seven strikeouts and the grand slam home run, which proved to be the difference in the game.
Game two: Carson-Newman 7, USC Aiken 0
Carson-Newman started out far more successfully offensively in the second game. Carson-Newman loaded the bases in the second with no one out thanks to a base hit to left from Pritchett, a walk to Shon Jordan (Hermitage, Tenn.) and Donna Ryan's (Orlando, Fla.) first career single, also to left.
A passed ball allowed Pritchett to come in and give Carson-Newman its first lead of the series. Toppel then extended her hitting streak to 10 games with a three-run trip to the Dinger District, clearing the wall in left field.
Carson-Newman would pick up again offensively in the third. Lindsay Dean (Coeburn, Va.) walked to lead off the inning and moved to second on a Pritchett single to left. Jordan then moved the two runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt up the third base line.
Ryan then smashed a ball off the Pacers' shortstop to plate Dean and put the Eagles up 5-0.
After the Pacers retired the Eagles' in order in the fourth, Dean and Pritchett got the offense rolling again in the fifth. Dean led off the inning with an opposite field home run to right before Pritchett made it back-to-back jacks planting a solo shot over the wall in left to put C-N up 7-0.
Danielle Kranz (Fairfield, Calif.) lost her no-hitter in the fifth when the Pacers got a base hit up the middle from Magan Thrower and a double off the wall in center from Taylor Morgan. However, Elayna Siebert (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Toppel got together to turn a 6-4-3 double play to help the Eagles out of the inning with no damage done.
Kranz dusted off the Pacers in order in the seventh to lockdown the complete game shutout.
Kranz moved to 1-1 on the season with the win. Normally a strikeout artist, Kranz only fanned two in the game, but did so against one walk and three hits allowed.
Chandler Terrapin was shackled with the loss for the Pacers to fall to 4-3 on the year. She gave up five hits, five runs, four earned in 2.0 innings of work. Taylor Morgan shut down the Eagles once she entered the game in relief.
Pritchett tallied her first career three-hit game. Toppel drove in three RBI, her third three-RBI game of the season and her 14th multi-RBI performance of her career.
The Eagles stay on the road Sunday to play at Clark Atlanta from Panthers Field at 2 p.m. There will not be live stats available for the game, but follow @cnathletics on Twitter to receive updates as they become available.
