VIDEO: Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Video
VIDEO: Highlights
Carson-Newman exploded for eight runs in the fifth inning of game one to end it via the run-rule 10-2. Erskine then proceeded to plate three in the sixth and five unearned runs in the seventh to salvage the split, 8-2, in the nightcap.
The loss in the nightcap prevented Carson-Newman from winning its 10th straight game, which would have been Carson-Newman's first double-digit winning streak in seven seasons.
"I don't want to take anything away from Erskine," head softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "They took advantage of our misplays. Then (pitcher Candace) Fitch got us to pop up all afternoon long. We didn't do things well either. Once they went up 3-1 (in game two), I didn't like our intensity or demeanor. It felt like we quit."
The eight runs and 10 hits the Flying Fleet produced in game two were both season highs for what the Eagles have allowed.
The Eagles pounded out 13 hits in the opener. Lacie Rinus (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), Abby Fiessinger (Benton, Ky.), Taylor Scott (Huntington, W.Va.) and KaraLynne Levi (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) all had mult-hit days. Rinus, Scott and Allison Webster (Charlestown, Ind.) all had multi-RBI performances.
"We got our hands out and were in attack mode," Kazee-Hollifield said. "Even then, our bat speed wasn't there at times. It certainly plagued us more in game two than it did in game one."
Game one: Carson-Newman 10, Erksine 2
Carson-Newman grabbed an early lead in the first. Abby Fiessinger (Benton, Ky.) led off the inning with a single through the left side. After Kristen Toppel (Roanoke, Va.) sacrificed her to second, Taylor Scott (Huntington, W.Va.) and KaraLynne Levi (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) each singled through the left side to load the bases.
Lacie Rinus (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) delivered the go ahead run on a base hit that hugged the left field line and made it 1-0. The Eagles would leave the bases loaded in the inning.
Erskine would grab the lead in the third. Chandler Crawford doubled to right with one out, then Destiny Miller singled up the middle and stole second to give the Fleet a pair of runners in scoring position. Brittany Rhinehardt evened the score with an RBI ground out, then Brittany Reynolds gave the fleet the lead with an RBI single into left.
The Eagles wasted no time in tying the game. Ashlyn Cooper (Friendsville, Tenn.) hit a two-out infield single to short to score Levi from third to tie the game.
Carson-Newman erupted with timely hits in the fifth inning to end things early. Levi and Alisa Walker (Knoxville, Tenn.) both go on base to start the inning. Rinus put the Eagles up with a double to right center.
Then the floodgates opened. Webster singled through the left side to plate Rinus and Walker to chase Erskine starter Samantha Schmidt from the game.
Fiessginer then tallied her second career three-hit day with an RBI double to left center to plate Webster. Toppel got plunked to give the Eagles runners on the corners. Scott delivered with a double to left center to clear the bases and put the Eagles up 8-2.
After back-to-back walks to Levi and Cheyenne Boles (Knoxville, Tenn.), the Eagles ended things early. Rinus tucked a single into left that brought Levi and Scott in, and ended the early via the run rule, 10-2.
Webster notched her sixth win of the season. She surrendered five hits and two runs with four strikeouts.
Schmidt was hit with the loss for the Flying Fleet, dropping her to 1-3 on the year. She surrendered 11 hits and six runs, five of which were earned.
Game two: Erskine 8, Carson-Newman 2
Toppel opened game two with a smash for Carson-Newman. The junior drilled a 1-2 pitch into the pine trees in left. The one-out solo bomb gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead. The home run was Toppel's first in 149 at bats.
Erskine's bats came to life in the sixth. Taylor Payne provided the sparks with a bases-clearing 3-RBI double into the gap in right center that put the Fleet up 3-1.
Erskine poured in five more runs in the seventh. Reagan Davis belted a two-run double to left field before Payne made Carson-Newman pay again. She blasted a three-run bomb to center to put the Fleet up 8-1. Payne was 2-for-2 with six RBI on the day.
Carson-Newman set the final margin with a Levi sacrifice fly to center field.
Rinus took the loss for the Eagles to fall to 5-2. She struckout a career high 12.
Candace Fitch got the win for the Flying Fleet to improve to 4-1.
The Eagles are back in action Friday at Young Harris, Ga, against Georgia College. First pitch against the Bobcats is set for 4:30 p.m.
