WINGATE, N.C. – On the back of 228 pitches and 17 strikeouts from freshman ace Lacie Rinus (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), Carson-Newman (36-10, 13-3 SAC) tallied its first sweep of Wingate (23-21, 8-8 SAC) since 2013 to remain in first place in the SAC standings.
The Eagles took game one of a doubleheader 3-2 in come-from-behind fashion Friday afternoon at the WU Softball Complex before striking early and often in a 7-4 win in the nightcap.
"We asked an awful lot of her (Rinus) today, there was a point in game two where I turned to her to see if she wanted to be pinch hit for." Kazee-Hollifield said. "She shook her head no. She's such a fierce competitor and that's exactly what we want and need from her. She's been terrific but we need Alli's arm as well as we hit this final week of the regular season."
C-N had won just one of its last six meetings with the Bulldogs and hadn't scored more than two runs on Wingate in the last three seasons.
"I was very happy with the way we took cuts at the plate," Kazee-Hollifield said. "We got our timely hits today and that was certainly nice to see against Wingate. It's always so tough to do that against Lani Shaffer Ries's teams."
Katie Pritchett (Ringgold, Ga.) drove in four runs for C-N while Rinus had a 2-for-6, two-RBI, three-run effort at the plate.
"We're deep in the season and this took a total team effort. I'm really proud of them for handling adversity the way they did today," Kazee-Hollifield said. "This team really showed its maturity with its fight and effort today."
GAME ONE: Carson-Newman 3, Wingate 2
Both Lacie Rinus and Rachel Weider's stars shown bright in a pitcher's duel to open up the game. It took until the fourth of a team to draw blood with Wingate striking first.
A double for Mary Claire Coyne and a single for Taylor Well gave Wingate a pair of base runners with no one out. Katie McLaurin hit a blooper to shallow center that Kristen Toppel (Roanoke, Va.) let drop as she lost it in the sun. Toppel was able to get an out at second, but Coyne raced home to score on a fielder's choice.
The Eagles countered the next half inning. A single for Abby Fiessinger (Benton, Ky.) and a walk to Toppel gave the Eagles a pair of base runners with no one out. Taylor Scott (Huntington, W.Va.) advanced the duo into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, then Fiessinger tied the game on a Lacie Rinus (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) sacrifice fly to center.
Wingate pushed the lead back to one in the bottom of the fifth. Aided by a hard hop and a fielding error at second, Naomi Sapp gave the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead as Taylor Well reached on the error by Fiessinger.
The Eagles used late-game dramatics to seal the deal. Toppel reached on an error before Scott singled through the left side of the infield. Rinus drove in the game-tying run with a base hit through the left side to score Toppel. Scott got erased at third 8-5 to give the Eagles a runner on second.
KaraLynne Levi (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) provided the heroics with a go-ahead RBI double to the gap in right center.
Rinus sat the Bulldogs down in order in the seventh to cement the win.
She improves to 19-5 in the circle with 11 strikeouts, her seventh double-digit strikeout effort of the year. Of the two runs Rinus allowed, one was earned. She walked one and surrendered five hits.
Weidner took the loss for Wingate to fall to 12-10. She struck out five and walked four while allowing six hits. Only one of the runs the Eagles scored was earned.
Carson-Newman was just 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. The Bulldogs went 1-for-12 with runners on second or third.
GAME TWO: Carson-Newman 7, Wingate 4
A patient Carson-Newman offense cracked the scoreboard first in the first. After Wingate pitcher Aubrey Reep generated two outs with her first five pitches, C-N settled down. Scott walked, then Rinus and Levi singled to left and center respectively to load the bases.
Katie Pritchett (Ringgold, Ga.) and Cheyenne Boles (Knoxville, Tenn.) both worked 10-pitch and eight-pitch bases loaded walks, respectively, to drive in runs and give the Eagles a 2-0 advantage.
Wingate wasted little time to even the score. Sapp walked to lead of the first before moving to second on a Jessica VonCannon sacrifice. Coyne ripped a home run to left to level the score and chase Allison Webster (Charlestown, Ind.) from the game. Rinus worked out of a bases-loaded jam to preserve the tie.
The tie game was short-lived. A walk for Fiessinger and a single to third for Toppel gave the Eagles a pair of one-out base runners in the second. Scott lifted a double top the wall in left to plate Fiessigner and push C-N back in front 3-2.
The Eagles padded the lead with a Levi sacrifice fly down the left field line.
Then, Pritchett clobbered her fifth home run of the season with a moon shot to right center that extended the Eagle lead to 7-2. A groundout ended the inning for the Eagles.
Carson-Newman used some defensive magic to keep the Bulldogs off the board in the bottom of the second. Rebekah Woods singled through the left side to lead off the inning.
Sapp then doubled to right. Wingate head coach Lanie Shaffer Ries waved both runners and the Eagles erased both Sapp and Woods with a 9-4-2-5-6 double play.
The Bulldogs got runs back in the fifth with a two-out rally. Emma Swenson bounced a two-out double to the wall in left center then Jordan Floyd clobbered a no-doubter home run to left to pull Wingate within three, 7-4.
Rinus picked up the win in 6.2 innings of relief work to improve to 20-5 on the year. She scattered 10 hits, but Wingate only scored two runs off her. Rinus struck out six. She limited the Bulldogs to a 2-for-8 effort with runners in scoring position.
Aubrey Rep took the loss in a 1.2-inning start to fall to 11-11. She allowed five hits, all seven runs and walked five. Reep needed 76 pitches to record five outs.
Weidner closed up shop for the Bulldogs with 5.1 innings of four-hit, shutout relief work.
Carson-Newman's Monday doubleheader with USC Aiken has been cancelled thanks to Peach Belt scheduling priority for a Pacer makeup. The Eagles will next take the field Wednesday at The Vick against Tusculum. C-N will celebrate senior day that afternoon and pay homage to Alli Webster. The contests will air on the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live.
