NEWBERRY, S.C. – Carson-Newman (23-13, 8-2 South Atlantic Conference) came through in the clutch with some late-inning extra-base hits to lay claim to both sides of a SAC doubleheader with Newberry (22-14, 3-7 SAC) Sunday afternoon at the Smith Road Complex.
"These were two good team victories, that's the best way to say it," head softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "Both our pitchers pitched extraordinarily well. Then batters one through nine consistently attacked the ball well. The only thing we could do better is to not leave so many runners stranded."
Kazee-Hollifield specifically mentioned the play of the Eagles' freshmen, as Donna Ryan (Orlando, Fla.) tallied her first career multi-hit performance.
"Our freshman really worked hard today," Kazee-Hollifield said. "Donna laid out and made a play that should be on ESPN diving to rob them of a hit. Then she gets a couple hits in game two. I was really proud of her.
"Then you have Coop (Ashlyn Cooper) pinch hit in a critical situation in game two and she delivers with a nice level cut to score a run. Shon Jordan played great, steady defense at third. If I had game balls for everyone today, I'd have to give them to nine or 10 people today with the way everyone played."
Game one: Carson-Newman 3, Newberry 2
Carson-Newman jumped on Newberry first. The Eagles loaded the bass with a hit batsman, a walk and a fielding error. Then Katie Pritchett (Ringgold, Ga.) came to the plate and delivered a high fly ball to centerfield that allowed Kristen Toppel (Roanoke, Va.) to tag up and score, giving Carson-Newman a 1-0 lead.
The Eagles would tack on another run in the second with a two-out rally. Donna Ryan (Orlando, Fla.) walked before Toppel drilled a two-out double to center field – the first hit of the day for the Eagles - to plate Ryan and make it a 2-0 lead for the Eagles.
Carson-Newman loaded the bases that inning for Lindsay Dean (Coeburn, Va.) with bases on balls for Shon Jordan (Hermitage, Tenn.) and Elayna Siebert (Knoxville, Tenn.). However, Dean grounded out to the circle to end the threat.
Newberry made certain the Eagles lead would be short-lived. A hit batsman, walk and single loaded the bases for Newberry with two-out. Christina Linton came through with a two-RBI single up the gut to tie the game before Allison Webster (Charlestown, Ind.) got Natalie Willis to strike out to end the threat.
Webster worked around a couple jams in the fourth and fifth innings, leaving two in scoring position in both frames.
Carson-Newman at long last broke through in the sixth. After Jordan worked a two-out, five-pitch base on balls, Siebert came up with an opportunity to tie the single-game school record for walks. Instead, she planted a ball to left center that enable Jordan to score from three bases away, putting the Eagles up 3-2.
C-N failed to add insurance in the road half of the seventh. Pritchett reached on an error, Webster walked and Ryan singled to load the bases with two out. However, Toppel flied out to right center to end the threat.
Newberry got the tying run aboard in the bottom of the seventh on a one-out Willis single up the middle. A Hailey Drawe pop up to short put the second out on the board. Then Jeri Loffler grounded out to third to end the contest.
Webster collected the win, improving to 13-7 on the year. She scattered five hits and gave up two runs. The junior walked three against a season-low four strikeouts.
Maude McCourry was shackled with the loss for the Wolves. She only gave up four hits, but the Eagles walked a season-high nine times against three strikeouts. McCourry hurled a whopping 170 pitches on the afternoon, 90 for strikes. She falls to 12-6 on the year.
Toppel and Siebertt both had doubles that drove in runs from three bases away on the day. Pritchett had the third run batted in for the Eagles on a sacrifice fly.
Carson-Newman left 13 runners stranded and was 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
Game two: Carson-Newman 4, Newberry 1
Carson-Newman again cracked the scoreboard first. Talisa Fiame (Pacifica, Calif.) walked to lead off the inning. Ryan was looking to lay down a sacrifice bunt, but managed to reach when the Wolves' first base man made a throwing error to give the Eagles runners on the corners. Ryan stole second then Andi Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.) walked to load the bases.
Toppel was hit by a 1-0 pitch to bring in Fiame for an unearned run. A batter later, Jordan reached on an RBI fielder's choice to short that scored Ryan, giving the Eagles a 2-0 advantage.
Newberry looked to counter in the home half of the second. The Wolves got base hits from Morgan Sweeney and Jeri Loffler, while Mallory Gerndt reached on an error by Danielle Kranz (Fairfield, Calif.) in the circle to load the bases with two out. However, Kranz got a strike out swinging to leave the bases loaded and preserve the Eagles advantage.
The Wolves again threatened in the fourth. Walks for Loffler and McCourry started the inning. With one out, the pair moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Siebert then came home on a ground ball to second from Myers to retire the pinch-running Paul at the plate and save a run from coming in.
Newberry would get one across as Gerndt doubled to center to score McCourry. However, Smith, Siebert and Prichett hooked up for a perfect relay to erase the tying run Myers at the plate, keeping the game 2-1 in favor of the Orange and Blue.
Carson-Newman loaded the bases with no one out in the road half of the fifth. Walks from Jordan and Dean sandwiched a Siebert single back to the circle.
However, Pritchett struck out after a nine-pitch at bat to put the first out on the board. Then Fiame lined into a double play that saw Jordan retired at the plate trying to tag up for a sacrifice fly.
The Eagles' freshman would come through in the clutch to pad the lead in the sixth. Ryan led off the inning with a single through the left side before moving to second on a Cheyenne Boles (Knoxville, Tenn.) sacrifice.
Ryan's base hit gave the freshman her first multi-hit performance of her career. She came in to score when Ashlynn Cooper (Friendsville, Tenn.) laced a pinch-hit double to right center field for an RBI and a 3-1 lead for the Eagles.
Jordan reached on an error at short to give the Eagles runners at the corners with two out for Siebert. The senior drilled a ball up the middle to score Smith for an unearned run that extended the Eagles' lead to 4-1.
Dean then reached on an error by Drawe at short that further extended the inning and loaded the bases for Pritchett, who was unable to further extend the inning and grounded into a fielder's choice to end the frame.
In the bottom of the seventh, Newberry got a one-out pinch-hit single through the left side from Ann Dee Priest in an attempt to start a rally. Christina Linton then fouled out to Jordan at third to put the second out up. Willis couldn't keep things going and fouled out to Dean at first to end the game.
Kranz (5-5) tallied the complete game win in the circle for the Eagles. She scattered six hits and only gave up the one run against a trio of walks and strikeouts.
Devon Morrison (7-7) took the loss for the Wolves. Only one of the four runs she allowed was earned. Morrison gave up six hits and five walks with five strike outs.
In addition to Ryan's multi-hit performance. Siebert also went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
The Eagles return home Wednesday for a pivotal SAC series with Anderson, First pitch between the Eagles and Trojans is set for 2 p.m. with coverage available with a free high definition stream on the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live.
