Eagles rally for 10-8 win over no. 21 Belmont Abbey

BELMONT, N.C. – Carson-Newman (17-22) pounded out 17 hits and rallied from an 8-5 deficit to pull out a 10-8 win over no. 21 Belmont Abbey (25-10-1) Wednesday afternoon at Abbey Yard. 

The Crusaders matched the Eagles with 17 hits, but committed six errors leading to five unearned runs to help C-N to the victory. 

"This was good for our offense because it's been the one area of our game that's been inconsistent," Carson-Newman head coach Tom Griffin said. "Everyone in the lineup had good at bats.  The fact that we did some good things with two-out at bats and coming from behind – that's a big confidence builder."

Carson-Newman is now 6-5 against nationally-ranked competition this year. 

The Eagles' win is the first by a SAC opponent against Belmont Abbey this year – the Crusaders were 8-0 against the league entering the game and had wins over no. 10 Catawba and no. 27 Wingate. 

Belmont Abbey took its 8-5 lead with a three-run sixth to set the stage for the Eagles' comeback. 

The Eagles started the rally in the seventh when Kevin Franchetti singled to right center to drive in Cody Fox from second.  A Joe Tipton single up the middle would score Franchetti from second and bring the Eagles within one. 

Ryan Fillers withstood a threat from the Crusaders in the bottom of the inning, but got away unscathed to give the Eagles a shot at the win.

BAC's Weston Clark doubled down the leftfield line and advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt with no one out.  However, Fillers struck out two batters and induced a ground ball to third to get out of the inning. 

The Eagles knotted the game in the eighth on a Jackson Reid single to third base that brought Trace Rogers home for an unearned run by a throwing error by the third baseman. 

Zach Long produced the game-winning runs on a two-RBI double to right center field that plated Reid and Everhart.  All three of the Eagles runs that inning were unearned.

The Crusaders put major threats on in both the eighth and ninth innings thanks to a handful of singles and walks.  But closer Daniel Sharp made outs via Ks on five of the game's final six outs to preserve the win for the Eagles and secure his second save of the year. 

"They got runners on thanks to some walks and errors because of the way the sun was setting in center, but Sharp provided was a big lift," Griffin said. "He's got the right mentality.  He wants the ball and he's not going to get rattled."

Belmont Abbey left five runners on base over the final two innings and 15 for the game.  The Eagles left 12 stranded for the contest. 

Fillers collected the win (2-2) for the Eagles in relief after throwing 1.2 innings of shutout ball. 

Five different Eagles collected multi-hit days, with Tipton's day among the best.  He was three-for-six at the dish with two RBI and two runs scored.

"Joe Tipton has done a nice job batting leadoff and having Long near the bottom of the order, because he's a veteran, he adds something big there," Griffin said. "The other thing we did was execute our bunts and our situational hitting much better.  We're becoming more aggressive and we're not afraid to make mistakes now.  This is our style – to put as much pressure on the defense as possible."

Long and Evan Kirkpatrick produced a pair of RBI each batting in the final two spots in the order.

Anthony Dimino proved to be the toughest out for the Eagles.  The Crusader went two-for-five with three RBI.  Clark had a pair of solo homeruns. 

Emilio Pagan took the loss for BAC. 

The Eagles return home for their final SAC series Friday against Anderson. First pitch is second for 2 p.m. with coverage available on cneagles.com on the Coca-Cola Eagle Sports Network. 

-CN-

 

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