JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (18-6) slugged three home runs to take two from New Haven (4-5) Friday afternoon at the Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Softball Complex.
Haley Caldwell (Kenova, W.Va.) belted two bombs and Lacie Rinus (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) homered for the first time in 129 at-bats as the Eagles won game one 4-1 before run-ruling the Chargers in walk-off fashion in the nightcap 9-1 in six innings.
Rinus and Caldwell were both prolific at the pate for the doubleheader. Rinus was 4-for-6 with a double, the home run and three runs batted in. Caldwell was 4-for-8 at the dish, she drilled the two home runs and brought in five RBI.
"It felt good to be able to help our team get two more good wins for us today," Caldwell said. "I was able to keep my hands inside the ball and my swing level. I'm just glad we were able to help our pitchers out and give them some more insurance runs."
Rinus and Caldwell both tallied multi-hit effort in both games. Caldwell drove in multiple runs in both games.
Leah Sohm (Knoxville, Tenn.) collected her first career multi-hit effort.
Rinus and Morgan Crawford were both effective in the circle, combining to allow nine hits through the doubleheader.
Game one: Carson-Newman 4, New Haven 1
New Haven drew first blood before the Eagles responded with four unanswered to take the W. The Chargers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the third with a timely two-out hit. Sierra Whitlock singled to right and promptly stole second. Tori Schiebe delivered a belt back up the box to score Whitlock and give New Haven a 1-0 advantage.
Carson-Newman would waste little time to level the score.
The next half inning, Carson-Newman had a runner on second in Caldwell with two out. Katie Pritchett (Ringgold, Ga.) ripped one back up the gut to respond with a two-out lick and tie things up at a run apiece.
The Eagles left two in scoring position in the fifth before breaking through in the sixth, aided by a New Haven miscue.
Singles from Taylor Scott (Huntington, W.Va.) and KaraLynne Levi (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) gave the Eagles two one-out base runners for Abby Fiessinger (Benton, Ky.).
The sophomore hit a ground ball to second and reached on a throwing error that allowed Valerie Seay (Cross Plain, Tenn.) to score on the play and give C-N the lead.
Following a Crawford K and an intentional base on balls for Rinus, Caldwell delivered a two-out knock to right center to score two runs and give C-N a 4-1 cushion that would hold for the win.
Rinus got the complete game win in the circle to move to 10-5. She allowed four hits and the run across seven innings. She struck out three and walked one.
Megan Butts fell to 2-2 with the loss. She was a hard-luck loser. None of the runs she allowed were earned. Butts allowed eight hits with two walks and three punchouts.
Game two: Carson-Newman 9, New Haven 1 (six innings).
Carson-Newman scored first in game two and never looked back to secure the sweep.
The Eagles got a run across in the third when Caldwell bombed a leadoff dinger down the left field line.
Two more came across in the fourth to send C-N up 3-0. With two out, Sohm laid down a bunt single to short to set the stage for Rinus to go yard to right center off the first pitch she saw. Rinus' home run was her first to go out of the park. She scored an inside-the-park home run for the first of her career against Brevard her freshman year.
The Eagles scratched another run across in the fifth on an RBI fielder's choice from Levi to set the margin at 4-0.
After New Haven cut the deficit to 4-1 in the top of the sixth, the Eagles dropped a five-spot in the bottom of the frame to end it early via the run-rule.
Sohm singled and stole second to lead off the frame before Rinus drove her in with a double to left center. Caldwell then went yard for the second time on the day with a moon shot to left to extend the Eagles' lead to 7-1. A Levi RBI fielder's choice followed by a Fiessinger single down the left field line ended things early for the Eagles.
Crawford got the win in the circle to move to 8-1. She fired 5-1 innings of four-hit ball, surrendering the lone run of the day. Rinus pitched two-thirds of an inning to collect an unusual save.
Kylie Stonebreaker fell to 2-3 with the loss after allowing five hits and four runs in 4.0 innings of work. She struck out four and walked three.
The Eagles return to The Vick Monday at 2 p.m. against Erskine. Coverage of that game will be available on the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live.
