VIDEO: Vickee Hollifield Interview
VIDEO: Lacie Rinus Interview
VIDEO: Highlights
Carson-Newman tallied a 7-3 win in the opener before using late-game dramatics to rally in the night cap.
The Eagles were down 2-0 after five in game two. C-N got a pair of timely two-out hits in the sixth to knot the game, then loaded the bases and walked it off in extra innings for the first time in 2017 when Cheyenne Boles (Knoxville, Tenn.) worked a bases-loaded walk to end the game.
"Later in game two, we became a little more patient at the plate," head softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "We started waiting, and zoning in on good pitches the last couple innings. I don't want to take anything away from them. Their pitchers do a fine job, and they are a strong team putting a bat on the ball. These are two good wins from a tough day."
The win in the nightcap keeps Carson-Newman tied with Lenoir-Rhyne for first place in the South Atlantic Conference standings. The Eagles produced their first win in eight tries when trailing a foe after five innings this season.
Lacie Rinus (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) tossed 168 pitches to guide C-N to the sweep in the circle. She picked up a pair of wins to improve to 18-5 on the year. Rinus fired a complete game in game one before working 5.2 innings in relief in the nightcap to collect the second W.
"She and Alli have both been workhorse," Kazee-Hollifield said. "Lacie gave us a different look in game two and she certainly helped us today."
The Eagles took advantage of runners in scoring position on the doubleheader. Carson-Newman went 7-for-16 with runners on second or third. \
GAME ONE: Carson-Newman 7, Lincoln Memorial 3
Carson-Newman used Lincoln Memorial miscues to grab the lead early in the first. A hit batsman and a double steal gave the Eagles two runners in scoring position with two out. Lacie Rinus (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) hit a week ground ball to the circle.
LMU's pitcher Briana Taylor bobbled the exchange to her throwing hand allowing Rinus to reach successfully and Kristen Toppel (Roanoke, Va.) to score to put C-N up 1-0.
C-N added another run in the third. Back-to-back two-out doubles to left from Rinus and Katie Pritchett (Ringgold, Ga.) put the Eagles up 2-0 with Pritchett driving in the run.
The Eagles exploded in the fourth. Kennedy Richardson (Elizabethton, Tenn.) led off the inning with a double. She moved to third on an Allison Webster (Charlestown, Ind.) sacrifice and scored on an Abby Fiessinger (Benton, Ky.) double to left.
Two hit batters loaded the bases. Rinus singled through the left side to drive in one. Then Pritchett drew a bases loaded walk to score the third run of the inning.
Cheyenne Boles (Knoxville, Tenn.) smoked a ball up the middle for another double that scored two runs and gave C-N a 7-0 lead.
LMU made things interesting in the seventh. An inside-the-park home runs for Allie Jones and a bases loaded hit batter for Abbie Bruns made it a 7-3 game. However, Dakotah Fraley flied out to right center to end the game with the bases loaded.
Rinus got the win to improve to 17-5. She struck out seven and gave up four hits.
Brianna Taylor took the complete game loss for LMU. She surrendered eight hits, walked two and struck out two. Of the seven runs Taylor allowed, six were earned.
GAME TWO: Carson-Newman 3, Lincoln Memorial 2 (eight innings)
LMU struck first in game two. Allie Jones roped a two-run double to left center to score Keela Goins and Jennifer Moose who had walked a singled. The double gave the Railsplitters a 2-0 lead and chased the starter Webster from the game.
It took until the sixth, but the Eagles leveled the game with quality two-out hitting.
Pritchett looped a double to left center to score Taylor Scott (Huntington, W.Va.) before Cheyenne Boles ripped a single up the middle to bring in a pinch-running Mikayla Williiams to even the score at 2-2.
LMU threatened to recapture the lead in the seventh. Singles from Fraley and Meridith Johnson sandwiched around Jennifer Moose reaching on a fielding error at third loaded the bases for LMU with one out. However, Rinus pitched through the jam with a strikeout and a pop up.
Carson-Newman got a two-out walk in the seventh, but that was the extent of the Eagles' offense.
With the international-rule runner in play in extra innings. Lincoln Memorial used a sacrifice bunt to move Ashlea Hunter to third with the first out of the inning. However, once more, Rinus came through, inducing foul outs to the right side of the infield to end the threat.
Carson-Newman quickly countered to win the game. C-N too bunted to move the international-rule runner, in this case Rinus, to third. KaraLynne Levi (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) bunted toward third. The ball scooted between the third baseman and pitcher to let Levi reach safely on a base hit and give C-N runners on the corners.
LMU pitcher Justice Smith tossed eight of her next 10 pitches out of the zone to end the game. She loaded the bases with a five-pitch free pass to Pritchett before surrendering first to Boles on balls to end the contest in walk-off walk fashion.
Smith took the loss for LMU to fall to 8-8. She gave up seven hits and three runs, two of which were earned.
Rinus snagged her second win in relief of Webster. Rinus dealt 5.2 innings of shutout relief work, her first relief appearance of the season. She struck out two and gave up four hits.
Webster pitched the first 2.1 innings of the game.
Carson-Newman left 11 LMU base runners stranded in game two. The Railsplitters were 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position compared to a 3-for-6 effort from the Eagles in game two.
The Eagles return to action Friday at Wingate.
