VIDEO: Vickee Kazee-Hollifield interview
VIDEO: Alli Webster interview
VIDEO: Elayna Siebert Interview
VIDEO: Lindsay Dean Interview
VIDEO: Highlights
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (25-13, 10-2 South Atlantic Conference) starting pitcher Allison Webster (Charlestown, Ind.) fired a no-hitter and power the Eagles to a doubleheader shutout sweep of Anderson (25-13, 5-7 SAC) Wednesday afternoon at the Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Softball Complex.
Webster tossed her no-no in game one, which Carson-Newman won 6-0. She also tallied a complete game shutout in the night cap with a 3-0 victory.
"What an afternoon she had," head softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "With pitching like that, she'll give you an opportunity to win every game. There are two things along with that. We played great defense behind her, then assistant coach Michael Graves called a great game."
The no-hitter is the first for the Eagles since Danielle Kranz (Fairfield, Calif.) fired a five-inning no-hitter in a run rule win over Davis and Elkins Feb. 28, 2015. Webster's is the first seven-inning no-hitter since Kalyn Davis fired a perfect game in February 2014 at Erskine.
Lindsay Dean (Coeburn, Va.) went 3-for-5 at the plate with three runs batted in to lead the Eagles' offense. She also drilled her league-leading 12th home-run of the season.
"I don't know if she fathoms the potential she has," Kazee-Hollifield said of Dean. "She can certainly leave her mark on Carson-Newman softball with the way her bat is. We haven't been able to pitch her as much as we'd like, but both her and Katie Pritchett have done a great job playing outside of where they typically would be."
Shon Jordan (Hermitage, Tenn.) went yard for the third time this year, while Elayna Siebert clobbered her 14th career triple.
The Eagles were highly successful with two outs. C-N went a combined 8-for-20 at the plate with two outs on the board and scored eight of their nine runs in the doubleheader with a pair of outs.
Game one: Carson-Newman 6, Anderson 0
Allison Webster (Charlestown, Ind.) started off the game inauspiciously for the Eagles with a four-pitch walk, but settled down to strike out the side in the first for the Eagles.
After 2.2 innings of hitless ball, Carson-Newman cracked the scoreboard first in the third. Kristen Toppel (Roanoke, Va.) led off the inning with a walk, moved to second on a Shon Jordan (Hermitage, Tenn.) sacrifice, and third on an Elayna Siebert (Knoxville, Tenn.) fly to deep left centerfield.
Lindsay Dean (Coeburn, Va.) delivered the clutch at-bat for the Eagles. She ripped a 1-0 pitch through the left side of the infield to score Toppel from third and give C-N the advantage 1-0.
Carson-Newman added insurance in the fifth. Siebert laced a ball over the head of Carli Hurtado at short with two out. That set the stage for Dean. The sophomore belted an 0-1 hanging curve into the pine trees beyond the fence in left center field for her league-leading 12th bomb of the year. The two-run shot gave C-N a 3-0 lead.
More insurance came in the sixth for the Eagles, and all with two out. Toppel squeezed a double down the leftfield line to score Ashlynn Cooper (Friendsville, Tenn.) who was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.
Jordan further padded the advantage with her third career dinger, a two-run shot, that squeezed inside the left field foul pole to put the Eagles up 6-0.
Webster grabbed a no-hitter for the Eagles. She gave up lead-off walks in the first and fifth innings. Those were the only two base runners who reached for Anderson. Webster struck out 10, her sixth double-digit strikeout performance off the season to improve to 14-7 with the win.
Augie Pena took the loss for Anderson. She gave up five hits and six runs to drop to 9-4.
All six of Carson-Newman's runs came on two-out hits. The Eagles were 5-of-11 at the plate with two out and 3-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
Game two: Carson-Newman 3, Anderson 0
Donna Ryan (Orlando, Fla.) doubled to the wall in right center to score Cooper from three bases away to start the scoring in game two in the bottom of the second. Cooper was aboard thanks to a nine-pitch, two-out walk. The double was the first of Ryan's career.
The Eagles added to their lead in the third. Dean dumped a base hit with two out into shallow center field. Pritchett then ripped a line drive over the head of Child in center. The ball rolled to the wall to allow Dean to score from 180 feet away and give Pritchett an RBI double. The run-scoring double put the Eagles up 2-0.
After going down in order in the fourth, the Eagles got on the board again in the fifth with back-to-back hits from Jordan and Siebert. Jordan singled up the middle before Siebert lifted a line drive over the glove of the right fielder and to the wall. Her 14th career triple plated Jordan and gave C-N a 3-0 advantage.
Webster went the distance to get to 15-7 on the year. She fanned seven while walking one. She only gave up one extra base hit on the day, and never more than a hit in any inning. No Anderson base runners reached third on Webster and Carson-Newman's defense.
Lauren Rudesheim was shackled with the loss for AU, falling to 11-5. She only allowed six hit and three runs on the fay while walking two and striking out a pair. However, of the six hits she gave up, four were for extra bases, three doubles and a triple.
The Eagles return home Saturday to face Coker. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. Coverage of the games will be available on the Eagle Sports Network with a high definition stream at cneagles.com/live.
