BELMONT, N.C. – In a contest that featured a combined 29 hits, 13th-ranked Belmont Abbey scored in each of the first six innings to topple Carson-Newman 15-9 on Wednesday afternoon at Abbey Yard.
"We were brutal on the mound today," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin stated. "It's a very good hitting club but we allowed nine walks and hit three guys. We weren't very efficient on the hill today."
The Eagles struck for three in the top of the first as Brett Langhorne (Mechiancsville, Va.) opened the contest by lining a single into left field. A wild pitch and ground out moved him to third base before Cade Snapp (Seymour, Tenn.) scored Langhorne on a single back up the middle. After a fielder's choice, Kilian Daughtry (Simpsonville, S.C.) tripled to center and Colby Morgan (Hixson, Tenn.) doubled down the left-field line to cap the big opening stanza.
Back-to-back base hits and a walk opened the bottom of the first to ignite a tying stanza for Belmont Abbey. A sacrifice fly and a ground out plated a pair before Josh Genthe doubled to right-center field to bring home Nick Beinlich and equalize at three.
Belmont Abbey took its first lead of the game when it loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the second. Beinlich drew a walk to make it 4-3 before Colin Rosenbaum hit into a 4-5-3 double play to keep the deficit at one.
With one out in the top of the third, Daughtry drew a walk. Morgan followed by cranking his first-career home run to right-center field to put the Eagles back on top at 5-4.
The two sides traded runs in their next at-bats to make it a 6-5 contest before the flood gates opened. RBI doubles from Luke Cureton and Genthe were sandwiched around an RBI ground out to give the Crusaders an 8-6 edge.
In the bottom of the fifth, Belmont Abbey scored six times to push the margin to eight at 14-6. The big blow came with two outs when Genthe ripped a bases clearing double into the gap in right-center field by Genthe.
A ground out by Cureton in the sixth made it a 15-6 contest before the Crusaders left the bases loaded in the frame.
The first two Eagles struck out in the top of the seventh before two walks and a hit loaded the bases. Brendan Campbell (Yardley, Pa.) and Langhorne drew walks to plate a pair. Snapp scored on a balk in the eighth to make it 15-9.
Four C-N hitters recorded at two knocks on the day as Morgan drove in three and scored twice to pace the offense. Overall nine batters had at least one poke on the day.
Genthe led the charge for Belmont Abbey by going 4-for-4 with five RBIs and a run scored while doubling three times. Six of the eight Crusaders that registered a hit had two or more.
Sam Luchansky (5-0) earned the win as the second of six hurlers on the day for Belmont Abbey recording five outs. Jordan Davis (Maryville, Tenn.) took the loss for C-N allowing eight runs, seven earned, in 3 1/3 frames with four strikeouts, four walks and seven hits.
Griffin's group heads back to Mossy Creek for SAC play starting Friday at 2 p.m. against Anderson. The Eagle Sports Network will have the call on cneagles.com/live with audio and video streams available.
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