JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Trevecca Nazerene scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning to overcome a three-run deficit and defeat Carson-Newman 7-6 Tuesday afternoon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
"I guess as a competitor I'm frustrated that we can't have any consistency," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "Today, that should be ball game. With that many runs and what we have, that [game] should be over. I think there were several two-strike hits to lead off that inning. Percentages will tell that a batter with two strikes, his average is not very good yet they are getting hits and that's part of the game."
Trevecca's Ethan Harrison drew a five-pitch walk to start the contest, stole second base and moved to third base on a fly out to right field. Micah Blount hit a ground ball to shortstop Jimmy Rice (Middlesex, N.J.) that Rice threw to the plate. It skipped over Carson-Newman's catcher to allow Harrison to score the game's first run.
Sophomore designated hitter Cade Snapp (Seymour, Tenn.) launched his 13th home run of the season over the wall in center field on a 1-0 pitch to start the bottom of the second inning to tie the score at one.
Ryan Arington laced a base hit through the left side of the infield for a base hit to start the top of the third inning. An error by second baseman Trever Lee (Garner, N.C.) put two runners aboard. Tyler Tichenor hit into a fielder's choice to put runners at the corners. Blount hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Arington and put the visiting group ahead 2-1.
With one out, junior center fielder Ryan Addington (Cincinnati, Ohio) singled to center field, stole second base and moved to third on an errant pick-off throw. Following a strikeout, senior third baseman Brandon Roberts (Davie, Fla.) floated a single to left-center field to score Addington and knot the score at two.
With two outs, the Trojans starter Jesse Peters walked back-to-back batters to bring Gooch Greer (Dickson, Tenn.) to the plate. The catcher laced a double to left field to score a run and give the Eagles their first lead of the day at 3-2.
Rice stepped to the plate to begin the bottom of the fifth inning and crushed his fifth home run of the season over the left-field wall to extend the edge to 4-2.
Zach Tompkins started the seventh inning with a double down the left-field line and moved to third base on a wild pitch. Following a punch out, Griffin Ganick slapped a base hit into center field to score Tompkins and make it a one-run affair at 4-3.
Greer reached on an error by the third baseman to begin the inning and moved to second base on a wild pitch. A single by Rice to right put runners at the corners. Roberts flew out to center for the second out of the inning. Rice attempted to steal second base, got caught in a rundown to allow Greer to score prior to a tag of Rice and make it a 5-3 game.
With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, freshman right fielder Ian Pung (Knoxville, Tenn.) laced a triple to the gap in left-center field and scored on a base hit to left field by redshirt-freshman Brendan Campbell (Yardley, Pa.) to push the lead to three runs.
In the top of the ninth inning, junior Raunel Perez (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) entered the game with one out and gave up a single, a double and an RBI single to right field. Perez punched out a batter and gave up a game-tying double to right field by Ryan Arington. Harrison gave the Trojans a 7-6 lead with a base hit to center field.
Greer started the bottom of the ninth inning with a base hit to left field. Addington sacrificed the runner to second base. Rice was hit by a pitch but after a 10-minute delay with and a conference between umpires, Rice was forced to step back to the box before he grounded out and Roberts flew out to end the game.
Rice and Greer each tallied a pair of hits with an RBI and a run scored to lead the Carson-Newman offense that had nine hits on the afternoon.
Tompkins, Ganick and Arington each had two hits for the Trojans as the bullpen allowed just one earned run in four innings of work.
The Eagles conclude the 2016 regular season with a three-game series at Tusculum beginning Friday evening at 6 p.m. at Pioneer Park. The Eagle Sports Network will have audio coverage beginning at 5:50 p.m. on cneagles.com/live with the pre-game show.
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