VIDEO: Vickee Hollifield Interview
VIDEO: KaraLynne Levi Interview
VIDEO: Highlights
The Eagles took game one in nail-biting fashion, 2-1 before comfortably winning 7-2 in the nightcap.
"I would love to figure out to get her back for another year," head softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "That was vintage Alli today. She gives us a chance to win ball games and today was no different. She did a tremendous job keeping Tusculum off balance."
Webster fired a complete game in game two, striking out four to cement the sweep. The two wins mean Carson-Newman needs a win Saturday at Lenoir-Rhyne to secure a 15th South Atlantic Conference regular season title.
"This has been a fun year," Kazee-Hollifield said. "These kids love to play the game and they love to win. There's nothing wrong with that and not settling. I think they all together have made each other better. The other thing I told them after this game, is that these victories aren't one dimensional, they find a way to get it done in all three phases every game. That's a joy."
GAME ONE: Carson-Newman 2, Tusculum 1
Tusculum became the 11th team this season to score first on Carson-Newman with a one-run first. Taylor Battle led off the game with a double to left that cleared a Carson-Newman outfield that was pulled in. She moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Michelle Miller sacrifice fly to right center. Lacie Rinus (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) got a pair of strikeouts to end the inning and the Pioneers' threat.
The Eagles wasted little time in tying the game. C-N got a double to lead off the first from Abby Fiessinger (Benton, Ky.) and a walk from Kristen Toppel (Roanoke, Va.). A two-out single down the left field line from KaraLynne Levi (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) evened the score at a run apiece.
C-N grabbed the lead in the third with a clutch extra-base hit. Fiessinger singled to left center to lead off the inning. With two out, Rinus lofted a ball to deep left center field for a double to score Fiessinger from three bases away and give C-N a 2-1 advantage.
Rinus shutdown the Pioneers the rest of the way to cement the win. TC had a trio of two-out base hits the rest of the way but never could string hits together.
Rinus improved to 21-5 with the complete game victory. She struck out eight and didn't walk anyone.
Taylor Plemons took the loss for TC to fall to 11-12. She allowed six hits and two runs with five strikeouts against three walks.
GAME TWO: Carson-Newman 7, Tusculum 2
In game two, it was Carson-Newman who drew first blood. Rinus led off the second with a base on balls. She took second on a Levi sacrifice and came home when Cheyenne Boles (Knoxville, Tenn.) ripped a two-out single to center field, putting C-N up 1-0.
The Eagles chased Tusculum starter Eliza Davis from the game in the third. Taylor Scott roped a double to the left centerfield alleyway to score one run. The Eagles nearly got two in on the play, but Toppel was gunned down at the plate 8-6-2. Rinus followed that up with an RBI base hit smashed to centerfield to score Scott.
The Eagles kept the party rolling with an RBI single from Katie Pritchett (Ringgold, Ga.) through the left side of the inning. The Eagles made it a four-run frame and a 5-0 lead when Levi scored on an error by the second baseman on a potential inning-ending fielder's choice.
The Eagles added to their led in the fifth with two runs. Pritchett snagged her fourth multi-hit effort of the year and her ninth multi-RBI effort with a two-run base hit through the left side of the infield.
Tusculum tallied two runs in the seventh off an RBI groundout and a base hit through the right side to set the final margin.
Webster went the complete game to improve to 17-5 on the year. She struck out four and didn't walk a batter while working around eight hits. Webster limited Tusculum to a 1-for-9 effort with runners in scoring position.
Tusculum utilized three pitchers with Davis taking the loss to drop to 7-5. She worked the first 2.2 innings before getting chased after allowing five hits and four runs.
Cayla Cecil gave up an unearned run and a hit in a third of an inning. Allison Pate closed the game with 3.0 innings of four-hit, two run ball. Tusculum's staff on the day struck out two and walked four.
The Eagles close out the regular season Saturday at Lenoir-Rhyne with the SAC regular season title on the line. First pitch against the Bears is at 2 p.m. Coverage of the contests will be available on the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live.
