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JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman baseball team dropped two one-run games on Saturday at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex to the Lincoln Memorial University Railsplitters.
The Eagles lost the first game in a marathon 13-inning affair when LMU doubled home the game-winning run with two outs to win 7-6. The Railsplitters came back from down 5-0 in the second game to win 6-5.
The Eagles were led by senior first baseman Evan Jurjevic who tallied five RBIs on six hits between the two games.
"His bat was in the zone a long time. It stayed flat in the zone for a very long time," assistant coach Blake Herring said. "He made some good plays defensively. He's probably our player of the day if we win those two games. He was just locked in today."
GAME ONE – Lincoln Memorial 7, Carson-Newman 6 (13 innings)
Lincoln Memorial wasted no time taking a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first frame. Carson-Newman starter Quinton Yocom (Cable, Ohio) retired two of the first three batters in the inning. After a two out single put runners at the corners, Logan Augustine ripped a single to rightfield to plate a run. A hit batter loaded the bases and Kelvin Brito brought home two more runs with a single to centerfield.
The Eagles had yet to tally a hit when they came to the plate in the top of the sixth inning. Junior designated hitter Joe Tipton (Dandridge, Tenn.) was hit by a 2-1 pitch to begin the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Sophomore centerfielder Ryan Addington (Cincinnati, Ohio) lined a ball to the gap in right-centerfield to bring home Tipton and make it a 3-1 game. Sophomore second basemen Eric Lynch (Boonton, N.J.) drew a walk in a 10-pitch at-bat. Senior leftfielder Bo Ausmus (Jefferson City, Tenn.) brought home another run with a double to right and Jurjevic (New Carlisle, Ind.) gave Carson-Newman its first lead with a double off of the base of the fence in left field to make it a 4-3 lead.
Jurjevic added the Eagle lead with a solo home run with two outs in the top of the eighth inning to make it 5-3. It was his first roundtripper since going yard against nationally ranked Georgia College on March 30, 2014.
Back-to-back walks and single loaded the bases before Yocom's day ended and Griffin called senior righthander Michael Cogliano (Medford, N.J.) out of the bullpen. The next two plate appearances, a single and a fielder's choice, resulted in a pair of runs and a tie game at five.
Jurjevic once again jumpstarted a rally in the top of the 13th inning. The first basemen began the stanza with a double to the gap in right and advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt. Senior shortstop Bryan Everhart (Greeneville, Tenn.) smacked a single to right to put the Eagles ahead 6-5.
Lincoln Memorial was down to its final out when centerfielder Wes Neiderland drove a 2-1 pitch over the fence in left to tie the score at six. The Eagles never recorded another out as a strikeout and an error by catcher J.D. Cowart (Athens, Tenn.) allowed a runner to reach first and five-pitch walk allowed the game to extend. Kyle Floyd ripped a double to right-centerfield to bring home the game-winning run and allow the Railsplitters to walk it off.
Four Eagles tallied multi-hit games led by a 3-for-6 day from Jurjevic who drove in three runs and scored twice. Addington, Lynch and Everhart each notched two-hit afternoons.
Senior righty Carson Bryant (Fletcher, N.C.) walked five and allowed four hits in 3.1 innings to fall to 0-2 on the season despite matching a career-high with five strikeouts.
GAME TWO – Lincoln Memorial 6, Carson-Newman 5
The Eagles wasted no time getting over the game one loss as Addington walked and Lynch was hit by a pitch to begin the first inning. Jurjevic continued his good day at the plate with a single that brought home Addington to make it a 1-0 game.
Senior outfielder Cody Fox (Seymour, Tenn.) took a 1-1 pitch and drove it out of the park for his first home run of the year. After the next two batters were retired, Addington walked and Lynch reached on an error. Freshman Cade Snapp (Seymour, Tenn.) reached on an infield single to score Addington while Jurjevic doubled to left-centerfield to put Carson-Newman ahead 4-0.
Ausmus walked to start the third inning and was in scoring position with two outs when Cowart brought him home with a single to right to make it 5-0 contest.
Once again, however, Lincoln Memorial went on the comeback trail. With two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning, Eric Kalman clobbered the first pitch he saw over the fence for a home run to make it 5-1.
Jean Rodriguez led off the bottom of the fifth frame with a solo blast of his own an inning that was capped by an RBI single by Augustine to make it 5-3 Carson-Newman.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Railsplitters sparked a two-out rally to provide the difference. An error allowed a run to score to make it a one-run game. On a 1-0 pitch, designated hitter Scott Miller drove a ball out of the park to give Lincoln Memorial a 6-5 victory.
Jurjevic went 3-for-4 with two RBI as the Eagles cranked out nine hits on the day.
The series wraps up Sunday afternoon at noon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex in a game that people can view on cneagles.com/live.
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