ANDERSON, S.C. – The Carson-Newman Eagles (8-4, 6-3 South Atlantic Conference) won the series with a 3-2 win in game one of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Anderson Memorial Stadium while the Anderson Trojans (7-7, 5-4 SAC) took the final game of the series 5-1.
The Anderson series victory is the third consecutive SAC series win for the Eagles who defeated Catawba and Brevard in previous weeks.
"Pitching and defense in game one," coach Tom Griffin said of the keys to game one. "Vince [Apicella] wasn't as sharp as he's been, but he did a great job. We made some big plays out there. The key was pitching and defense with some timely hitting. Game two, their pitcher battled hard and they got the big hit when they needed it."
Carson-Newman only recorded three hits in the second game. The Eagles used six pitchers that gave up nine hits and struck out four.
"We did not play good baseball," Griffin said. "We did get two out of three and we don't want to be satisfied with that because if you look at the standard that has been set way before me then two out of three this weekend is not acceptable because we didn't play well. We made too many mistakes. We didn't feel like we played the brand of baseball we expect and that is discouraging."
Game One Recap: Carson-Newman 3, Anderson 2
The first two innings saw both teams get runners on base, but neither team could push runs across.
After stranding runners on the corners in the bottom of the second, two Carson-Newman errors allowed Anderson to push a run across in the top of the third. Apicella walked the leadoff batter Tyler Miller. Then, a throwing error by third baseman Brandon Roberts (Davie, Fla.) on a bunt attempt put runners on first and second with no outs. A successful sacrifice bunt pushed runners into scoring position when Apicella's pickoff attempt sailed into centerfield and Miller scored from third for the Trojans' first lead of the series at 1-0.
The Eagles responded in the bottom half of the inning, all two outs. Designated hitter Eric Lynch hit a two-out single to right field. With a 0-1 count, Ausmus laced a pitch over the signage in left field for a no-doubt-about-it jack and gave C-N a 2-1 lead through three innings. That was Ausmus's second home run of the season and RBIs five and six.
In the top of the seventh, Anderson catcher Travis Smith put an Apicella fastball over the fence in left field to tie the contest at 2-2.
Once again, Carson-Newman answered the Trojans during its very next at-bat. Senior right-fielder Cody Fox (Seymour, Tenn.) led off the bottom of the seventh with a double that landed just inches fair down the right field line. A sacrifice bunt moved Fox to third with one out. With one out, senior catcher J.D. Cowart (Athens, Tenn.) laid down a suicide squeeze that trickled down the first base line to score Fox from third and the Eagles retook the lead, 3-2.
Looking for insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, Carson-Newman got the first two runners on in the inning with back-to-back singles from Lynch and Ausmus. Anderson brought in relief pitcher Mitchell Cooksey to face the Eagles. First baseman Evan Jurjevic (New Carlisle, Ind.) popped up a sacrifice bunt attempt. Senior Bryan Everhart (Greeneville, Tenn.) hit a single through the left side of the infield and pinch runner Mitch Trzeciak (Charlotte, Mich.) was gunned down at home by left-fielder Nick Bernardo and the Eagles could not tack on an insurance run.
Apicella struck out 10 Trojans on just three walks. He allowed two runs, one earned on four hits.
Everhart extended his hitting streak to 10 games with his single in the bottom of the eighth inning, a streak that would end in the second game as he went 0-for-2 with a walk.
Game Two Recap: Anderson 5, Carson-Newman 1
Centerfielder Ryan Addington (Cincinnati, Ohio) led off the bottom of the first inning with a walk. After Roberts moved Addington to second with a sacrifice bunt, Ausmus hit a ball to right field that Ryan Flynn dropped that allowed Addington to move to third and Ausmus was standing on second. Designated hitter Greg Jones (Maryville, Tenn.) hit an infield single that none of the middle infielders could corral, allowing Addington to score and the Eagles led 1-0 after one.
In the top of the second, Anderson struck back. An RBI single from designated hitter Shawn Delmontagne through the left side of the infield to plate a run. The next batter, Stephen McKnight, reached on a Jurjevic error, but Fox gunned down Brett Cash who was trying to score from second on the play to preserve the 1-1 game.
Anderson loaded the bases in the top of the fourth. Two walks and infield single had ducks on the pond. C-N went to its bullpen as Logan Shaftner (Lexington, Ky.) came on to work out of the jam. Shaftner induced a grounder to Everhart at short who threw onto first to end the threat.
In the top of the sixth, Anderson used a leadoff walk, a throwing error on a pickoff attempt and a single to center to set up runners on the with no outs. Tyler Miller doubled to left center to plate a run and push the Trojans' advantage to 2-1. After a walk loaded the bases and a strike, Anderson first baseman Steven Cooper cleared the bases with a single and a throwing error to push the lead to 5-1.
The Eagles will take on nonconference opponent UVA-Wise Wednesday afternoon at 2 p.m. at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex. The game can be viewed on cneagles.com/live courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network.
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