JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Freshman rightfielder Cade Snapp (Seymour, Tenn.) went 2-for-3 with seven RBI and three runs scored becoming the first Eagle since Jeff Lockwood on February 17, 2010 versus Pfeiffer to drive in seven or more runs in a game as the Carson-Newman Eagles (9-7) earned their largest margin of victory in 2015 by defeating the Bluefield State Blues (3-3) 14-3 Tuesday afternoon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
"I was just looking fastball and adjusting to off-speed and making hard contact," Snapp said. "We've been working on hitting backside all week and doing all we can to hit backside because we struggled all weekend doing that."
Bluefield St. struck for three runs in the top of the first inning. A leadoff single and back-to-back doubles plated a pair of runs. A one-out single to right-centerfield by Alex Dunn scored the third run of the inning to make it a 3-0 game.
Carson-Newman scored the next nine runs of the game beginning with a sacrifice fly to right field by Snapp in the bottom of the first inning.
In the home half of inning No. 2, junior third basemen Brandon Roberts (Davie, Fla.) laid down a bunt single and senior catcher J.D. Cowart (Athens, Tenn.) doubled to left with two outs. Sophomore centerfielder Ryan Addington (Cincinnati, Ohio) looped a single to left-centerfield to plate a pair of runners and tie the game at three.
The first four men of the third inning reached as back-to-back singles from sophomore second basemen Eric Lynch (Boonton, N.J.) and senior leftfielder Bo Ausmus (Jefferson City, Tenn.) started the inning. The next batter, senior first basemen Evan Jurjevic (New Carlisle, Ind.), line a double off of the fence in right to score Lynch and give Carson-Newman its first lead. Snapp followed with his first career home run, a laser down the line in left field to make it 7-3 after three innings as the Eagles sent 10 men to the plate in the third.
Snapp delivered again in the Eagle half of the fourth inning after Jurjevic doubled with two outs. Snapp smacked a towering home run to left-centerfield on a 1-0 pitch to put his team ahead 9-3.
After adding a run in the fifth frame, the Eagles exploded for four more runs in the seventh inning. Two runs came home on errors before back-to-back RBI base hits from senior shortstop Bryan Everhart (Greeneville, Tenn.) and junior designated hitter Mitch Trzeciak (Charlotte, Mich.) gave Carson-Newman a decisive 14-3 advantage.
"Much better today obviously because of the amount of hits we were able to generate," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said of the offense. "A better job backside hitting I thought. Hitting the back where its pitched is a common phrase in hitting but sometimes it isn't executed the way we need it to."
Sophomore righty Ryan Eberle (Cookeville, Tenn.) earned his first win of the year by working 3.1 scoreless innings of relief with three strikeouts, one walk and a hit. The Eagle bullpen allowed just two hits in 7.1 innings of work.
Lynch, Jurjevic and Roberts all collected multi-hit games as Carson-Newman cranked out 14 hits and scored in every half inning except for the sixth and eighth innings.
The Eagles are back in action this weekend for a three-game series scheduled for Lincoln Memorial beginning Friday night at 6 p.m. in Harrogate, Tenn.
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