BELMONT, N.C. – Carson-Newman's Kyle Koeneman hit two late-inning home runs and came on in the ninth to pick up his third save as the Eagles beat Belmont Abbey, 8-6, on Tuesday afternoon at Abbey Yard.
The win evens the Carson-Newman record to 20-20, while the Abbey drops to 25-15.
Carson-Newman scored four runs in the eighth to erase a 5-4 deficit..
The contest was a pitcher's duel until the fourth when Carson-Newman broke through with the game's first run. Troy Zawadski led off with a single and was sacrificed to second. Kyle Koeneman followed with a long flyout to right, deep enough to move Zawadski to third. The throw into third got away from Emilio Pagan, allowing Zawadski to score on the error. The Eagles added to their lead in the fifth on a solo homer by Mason Guymon, but the Abbey battled back in the bottom of the inning to take the lead.
Kyle Buchanan worked a one out walk, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Stephen Mullis's double to right. Caleb Shore advanced Mullis to third on a groundout, and he scored on a wild pitch to put the Abbey on top, 2-1.
Koeneman led off the sixth with a homer to knot the game at two, but the Abbey answered right back with a homer of its own to retake the lead, as Justin Vasquez blasted a two-run homer to left center to put the Abbey back ahead 4-3.
Koeneman responded again, blasting a two out, solo homer in the seventh to deadlock the game at four, but once again the Crusaders had an answer. Shore led off with a bunt single, stole second and scored on a single by Ian Vazquez to give the Abbey a 5-4 lead.
Carson-Newman responded with four run eighth inning on five hits, with two runs coming on a Zawadski single and two more on an Abbey error to open up an 8-5 lead.
Belmont Abbey closed it to 8-6 in the eighth as Vasquez belted his second homer of the day, an opposite field shot to left center, but the Crusaders could not muster any more runs.
The Eagles did not score in the ninth despite a double from Koeneman, as it entered the bottom of the frame looking to seal the win. John Cucchiarella led off the ninth with a walk. After a pitching change that brought Koeneman to the mound, Vazquez worked a walk to bring the winning run to the plate with no outs, but Koeneman retired the next three batters to end the game.
Koeneman, whose home runs were his 15th and 16th of the year, finished 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs. His two home runs and a ninth-inning double came in his final three at-bats.
Guymon, Zawadski, Cody Fox and Bryan Everhart all totaled two hits as the Eagles recorded 15, 10 coming in the last five innings.
The Crusaders totaled seven hits as Vasquez led the way with two. He drove in three runs.
Lucas Watson earned the win in an inning and a third of relief, giving up one run on two hits. He walked one and struck out one. Matt Parish was charged with the loss after yielding five runs, four earned, on five hits in an inning and a third.
Koeneman came on with a runner on first and no outs in the ninth to pick up the save. He had a strike out and induced a foul out in the inning.
C-N returns to action on Friday evening against Lincoln Memorial at Smokies Park in Kodak, Tenn. First pitch is at 6:15. The two teams play a doubleheader on Saturday at noon in Jefferson City.
-C-N-
