ATLANTA – Danielle Kranz (Fairfield, Calif.) smashed her first career home run – a grand slam – and Carson-Newman's (11-5) defense dominated for a pair of shutout wins over Clark Atlanta (4-9), Sunday afternoon at Panther Field.
The Eagles smashed for a 17-0 win in five innings in game one before tallying a 4-0 win in the nightcap.
Head softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield pointed to Kristen Toppel (Roanoke, Va.), Lindsay Dean (Coeburn, Va.) and Katie Pritchett (Ringgold, Ga.) as players who stepped up in the doubleheader.
"We are just now beginning to see some people step up," "It started with the Aiken game and it continued today. Katie Pritchett, defensively, I can't praise her enough for the job that she's doing behind the plate. Then how hard Toppel and Dean are working, it's thrilling."
Toppel went 4-for-6 at the plate with an RBI. Pritchett called two shutouts behind the dish as catcher while Dean only surrendered a hit and recorded every out in game two.
Especially impressive for Kazee-Hollifield was the Eagles defense. Carson-Newman has played three straight games without making an error – a streak that hasn't happened this season. Carson-Newman went five games without an error last season from March 30 – April 4.
"The kids are making the routine plays and also making two or three really good ones as well," Kazee-Hollifield said. "You combine that with solid pitching and knocking a few runs in, that's great. The big thing has been the weather cooperating and us consistently being able to take the field and work on improving that way."
Game one: Carson-Newman 17, Clark Atlanta 0
Carson-Newman took a couple innings to get the offense rolling in game one, but once it got rolling, it was unstoppable. The Eagles started things rolling in the third when Talisa Fiame (Pacifica, Calif.) drove in Donna Ryan (Orlando, Fla.) on a base hit. Then Elayna Siebert (Knoxville, Tenn.) pounded on a fastball, driving a double to right that scored two more. Siebert tried to leg the play out into a triple, but got gunned down at third.
The Eagles continued to pour it on in the inning. Allison Webster (Charlestown, Ind.) helped out her own cause in the circle with a two-RBI single. Kristen Toppel (Roanoke, Va.) continued the party with a two-RBI single of her own which extended the lead to 7-0 and her hitting streak to 11 games.
Carson-Newman made the run rule a viable option in the fourth when Katie Pritchett (Ringgold, Ga.) plated Janelle Benzick (Virginia Beach, Va.) with a double to make it 8-0.
The Eagles further padded the run in the 10th. Siebert got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to give her a season-high three runs batted in. Boles added another run with an RBI single before Pritchett worked a bases loaded walk to extend the lead to 12-0.
Shon Jordan (Hermitage, Tenn.) kept the merry-go-round rolling with an RBI base hit to set the stage for Danielle Kranz (Fairfield, Calif.). The sophomore pitcher conked a grand slam, the Eagles' first since Bre Lockett's against Bluefield State last season, to extend the advantage to 17-0.
Kranz, who entered in the fourth in relief of Webster in the circle, became the first Carson-Newman pitcher to hit a grand slam since Mary Shealy jacked one on April 20, 2012 in a 10-4 win over Mars Hill.
Webster got the win in the circle to improve to 5-4 on the season. She struck out seven in her 3.0 innings of work before ceding way to Kranz. Kranz gave up a one-out bunt single in the fifth to break up the Eagles' team no-hitter. That was the only batter to reach in Kranz 2.0 innings of relief work.
Veranae Woods took the loss for the Panthers. She surrendered eight hits, nine runs, three earned in 3.2 innings of work.
Toppel tallied her first three-hit game off the season and the 15th multi-hit performance of the year. Boles also snagged a multi-hit day, going 2-for-3 at the plate with an RBI. Siebert, Pritchett, Webster and Kranz all produced multi-RBI days.
Clark Atlanta only had one base runner make it to second on the day. Carson-Newman astoundingly successfully advanced base runners 21 out of 28 times they were on base.
The 17 runs the Eagles scored are tied for the 21st most all-time in school history.
Game two: Carson-Newman 4, Clark Atlanta 0
While the offense took a second to get churning in game one, the Eagles' came out firing in game two.
Toppel opened up the game with a base hit to push her hitting streak to 12 games. She then scored on a Siebert RBI single to give the Eagles an initial 1-0 lead in the first. The Eagles, however, were unable to continue the inning and left the bases juiced.
Carson-Newman would get another single run in the second, this time from Ashlyn Cooper (Friendsville, Tenn.). The freshman went yard off a 1-1 pitch for her first career visit to the Dinger District to put the Eagles up 2-0.
The Eagles added to their lead in the fourth. Siebert drove in Toppel again with an RBI double while Lindsay Dean (Coeburn, Va.) assisted her own cause in the circle with an RBI single plating Jordan to make it 4-0.
Dean improved to 5-0 in the circle with the win. She struck out six and faced 19 of the 21 batters that came to the plate in the game. Dean only surrendered one hit.
Ajada Cofield took the loss for the Panthers, falling to 3-5 on the season.
The Eagles continue their road trip Tuesday at UVA Wise. First pitch between the Eagles and Cavaliers is set for 1 p.m. Coverage will be available on the Eagle Sports Network with an audio stream at cneagles.com/live.
