Hickory, N.C. - Lenoir-Rhyne (6-21, 3-9) and Carson-Newman (11-13, 7-5) split a South Atlantic Conference baseball doubleheader Saturday at Bears Field. The Eagles won the first contest by a 4-3 score before the Bears rallied to prevail in the nightcap, 4-3.
Game One - Carson-Newman 4, Lenoir-Rhyne 3
Trailing 3-2, the Eagles scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning to take the first contest of the doubleheader.
Carson-Newman's Trace Rogers (Simpsonville, S.C.) delivered an RBI sacrifice bunt in the inning which proved to be the game-winner for the Eagles.
The Eagles took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning on a two-run double by Lance Reed (Elizabethton, Tenn.). Reed finished with three hits and three runs batted in to lead Carson-Newman.
L-R scored single runs in the third, sixth and eighth innings to take a 3-2 lead. An RBI single by Lenoir-Rhyne junior first baseman Colton Hansley (Asheville, N.C.) broke a two-all tie in the eighth inning before Carson-Newman rallied to win it in the ninth.
Carson-Newman's Kyle Koeneman (Seymour, Tenn.) improved to 2-0 after retiring all five batters he faced in the game. C-N starter Robbie Thigpen (St. Petersburg, Fla.) allowed three earned runs in 7.1 innings of work. He struck out seven.
L-R senior Blake Edmonson (Newton, N.C.) fell to 0-3 with the loss.
Senior outfielder Stephan Arcieri (Roswell, Ga.) and freshman outfielder Ivan Vieitez (Miami, Fla.) both finished with two hits and an RBI in the losing effort for the Bears.
Game Two - Lenoir-Rhyne 4, Carson-Newman 3 (seven innings)
Lenoir-Rhyne junior outfielder Rai Robinson (Kings Mountain, N.C.) drove in all four runs including a walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh inning to help the Bears salvage the split
Robinson gave the Bears a 3-1 lead with a bases-clearing triple in the third inning before Carson-Newman rallied to tie the game at three with single runs in the sixth and seventh frames, respectively.
The Eagles' Philip Duncan (Knoxville, Tenn.) tied the game at three with a run-scoring single in the top of the seventh before Robinson ended the contest in the bottom of the frame.
Vieitez (1-1) earned the win on the mound for the Bears while the Eagles' Ryan Fillers (Greeneville, Tenn.) fell to 1-4 on the year with the loss.
Lenoir-Rhyne remains at home to take on Indiana (Pa.) on Wednesday in a doubleheader beginning at 3:00 p.m. Carson-Newman plays at North Georgia on Tuesday in Dahlonega, Ga., at 5:00 p.m.
Eagle third baseman Lance Rorex (Chattanooga, Tenn.) was 4-of-7 on the day for the Eagles, while Koeneman added theree hits and reached six times in the doubleheader.
-C-N-
