BRISTOL, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Eagles (15-14) allowed 15 hits, but the pitching staff stranded 11 runners to give the Eagles an 8-5 victory over the King Tornado (13-15) Tuesday afternoon at the King Baseball Field. The victory is the first win for Carson-Newman in three extra inning affairs this year.
"They worked out of a lot of situations they put themselves in, but they were able to get out and that was the key" Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "Defensively, we played really well. Bryan Everhart had the game-saving play. All of the defense I thought played very well and then we got the timely hit that we had been looking for."
With two outs in the top of the first frame and junior third basemen Brandon Roberts (Davie, Fla.) standing on second base, senior first basemen Evan Jurjevic (New Carlisle, Ind.) lined a ball into the gap in leftfield to score Roberts and put the Eagles ahead 1-0.
In the bottom of the first inning, Tyler Raymond led off the stanza with a looping single to centerfield. Two batters later, Jose Sola tripled to the gap in rightfield to plate Raymond and tie the score. Sola crossed the plate to make it a 2-1 contest on a groundout by Ryan Whitt.
Roberts drew a one-out walk in the top of the third inning on four straight pitches. The next batter, senior leftfielder Bo Ausmus (Jefferson City, Tenn.), lined a ball into left-centerfield that King centerfielder Josh Stephens misplayed and let roll to the wall. Ausmus rounded the bases and a throwing error by Stephens allowed Ausmus to score on his second triple of the season to give the Eagles the lead back at 3-2.
Three straight hits for the Tornado capped by a two-run single to centerfield by Tyler Douglas gave the Tornado the lead back at 4-3 in the bottom of the third inning.
Sophomore catcher Greg Jones (Maryville, Tenn.) drew a five-pitch walk with one out in the top of the sixth inning. With two outs and Jones at second base, senior shortstop Bryan Everhart (Greeneville, Tenn.) hit a rocket off of the leftfield wall to score Jones and tie the score at four.
After Carson-Newman left the bases loaded in the top of the seventh, King took a 5-4 lead on a two-out single to centerfield by Whitt.
The Eagles answered in the top of the eighth as freshman designated hitter Joe Rotelli (Morganville, N.J.) doubled down the line in leftfield. Junior Mitch Trzeciak (Charlotte, Mich.) pinch ran for Rotelli and scored on a two-out throwing error by shortstop Cody Rogers.
Five straight one out hits for the Eagles gave the visiting club an 8-5 edge in the top of the 11th inning. Ausmus ripped an RBI double down the leftfield line to score Roberts. Jones and Trzeciak added RBI base hits to extend the lead to three runs.
Roberts had his first three-hit game of the year going 3-for-4 with two walks and three runs scored while Ausmus and Jurjevic each had two-hit days as Ausmus had three RBI and Jurjevic drove in a run.
Out of the bullpen senior Carson Bryant (Fletcher, N.C.) worked 4.2 innings of one-run, five-hit baseball while Cogliano allowed just one hit in 1.1 innings.
The Eagles host a South Atlantic Conference team at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex for the final time in 2015 when the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears come to Mossy Creek for a three-game series beginning Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. All three games can be viewed and heard by visiting cneagles.com/live courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network.
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