Pitching, Campbell’s clutch knock lifts C-N over King
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Carson-Newman’s pitching staff earned its first shutout of the 2017 season as a two-out RBI single to right field from Brendan Campbell gave the Eagles a 1-0 victory over King Tuesday afternoon at the King Baseball Field.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Carson-Newman's pitching staff earned its first shutout of the 2017 season as a two-out RBI single to right field from Brendan Campbell gave the Eagles a 1-0 victory over King Tuesday afternoon at the King Baseball Field.
"It started with the pitching and defense," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "We had a lot of clean innings and great defensive plays. Joey Selitto especially at second showed some good range. The pitching kept us in it. With the wind blowing in it was going to be a situational type game. We both had our opportunities. Fortunately we were able to execute a bunt and Brendan had a big hit. It's a big win on the road and very good ball game against a good club."
Carson-Newman (19-17) has now won eight straight games at the King Baseball Field dating back to a March 27, 1991 win for King (15-19-1) as the Eagles win the fifth straight meeting overall.
The 1-0 win is the first for the club since beating Virginia-Wise 1-0 in eight innings on Valentine's Day of 2016. The last time the Eagles won a nine-inning outing 1-0 came at Wingate on April 6, 2008.
Carson-Newman pitching had not allowed a hit entering the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, Ben Donaldson picked up his team's first knock with a roller into right field. The junior stole second before being stranded in scoring position.
King loaded the bases with one down in the last of the seventh. Greg Valentine (Knoxville, Tenn.) entered the game out of the bullpen and needed two tosses to induce a 6-4-3 double play to keep the game scoreless.
Greg Jones (Maryville, Tenn.) singled to right field to start the top of the ninth inning. Jordan Hinshaw (Elizabethton, Tenn.) entered to pinch run and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Brett Langhorne (Mechiancsville, Va.). Following a ground to shortstop, pinch-hitter Brendan Campbell (Yardley, Pa.) trickled a single into right field on a 3-2 pitch to plate Hinshaw who slid in just before the tag to put the Eagles on top 1-0.
In the bottom of the ninth, Raunel Perez (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) retired the first two batters before allowing a walk and a single to right field to put the tying and go-ahead runs on base. The senior righty picked up a game-ending strikeout of Anthony Hunt to seal the win.
The two clubs combined to record a total of 12 hits as the visitors outhit King 7-5 as each hit for the Tornado's lineup came from the top five spots in the order. Jones and Joe Selitto (Newton, N.J.) were the only players in the game with multiple hits as each went 2-for-3.
Perez pitched the final two innings of the game for Carson-Newman yielding two hits and a walk while striking out a pair.
Carson-Newman gets back into league action this weekend with a three-game series slated at Lincoln Memorial beginning Friday at 2 p.m. The Eagle Sports Network will be on site to provide the play-by-play action starting at 1:45 p.m. with "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to First Pitch" on cneagles.com/live.
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