WINGATE, N.C. – Over a pair of games, No. 24 Wingate scored 14 runs with two outs to cap a fourth-straight series victory over Carson-Newman in South Atlantic Conference play Saturday afternoon at Ron Christopher Stadium. The Bulldogs sealed the first game 11-4 before surging to start the second in a 5-2 victory.
"The key to baseball is two-out hits and two-strike hits," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "They did a good job of executing some of that. We were pitching behind and walks caught up to us a little bit. In that first game we had a couple errors that allowed some more runs to score.
"I like the way we battled in the second. Will Gardner to come in on that kind of notice after pitching last night gave us a spark. Matt Bradley was outstanding as far as what he did as well. You have an inning with the bases loaded and [John] Sharpe hits it right at them. That's the game of baseball. Sometimes you catch breaks and sometimes you don't. We had good effort today."
It is the fourth straight trip that Carson-Newman (19-15, 11-7) is unable to win a series at Wingate (28-9, 13-5) as the Eagles last win a road trek to the Bulldogs came in 2011.
Game One: WINGATE 11, Carson-Newman 4
The game marked the end of a five-game winning streak for the Eagles over the Bulldogs dating back to a series in the Tar Heel State on March 19, 2016 putting an end to the second-longest streak for the program.
Griffin saw his pitching staff issue 10 walks in the game as it was the first time since Feb. 18, 2017 against Northwood that the club allowed 10 or more free passes when it walked 13 last season.
After Kyle Cagle (Fairview, N.C.) retired the first two of the second, Brett Branton slapped a double down the right-field line. Justin Guy dribbled a ball up the first-base line and beat out the tag attempt to put men at the corners. Cagle picked to first with Guy on the move. After the throw went to second base, Branton took off for home. Micah Genter (Jasper, Tenn.) caught the ball at second and twirled a throw home that short hopped the dish allowing Branton to score the game's first run.
With one out in the top of the fourth frame, Cade Snapp (Seymour, Tenn.) drove a 1-0 pitch to left field that eluded the leaping mitt of Justin Guy and cleared the fence for his sixth home run of his senior season to equalize the score at one.
Walks came back to haunt Cagle in the fourth. A lead-off free pass to Tanner Forry started the inning before the left-hander retired the next two. The sophomore walked each of the next four batters to plate a pair of runs. McCann Mellett hit a flare to left that Genter failed to locate as the ball bounced in to score two more. An RBI double to left-center field by Tyler Schneider made it a 6-1 contest.
Miscues allowed Wingate to score four more times in the fifth to push the margin to nine at 10-1. A dropped fly ball in center field put two men on base. Guy hit a shallow pop up to left field that was dropped to score a pair. Two batters later Mellett hit a grounder up the middle that glanced off of the glove of second baseman John Sharpe (Franklin, Tenn.) to score Guy and load the bases. A fourth base on balls with sacks filled came to Tanner Forry.
Andrew Llewellyn cranked a 0-1 delivery over the fence with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning to push the bulge to 10 at 11-1.
C-N scratched three runs across the plate in the top of the seventh as Brett Langhorne (Mechiancsville, Va.) ripped a two-run triple to the fence in left-center field. The senior scored on a base hit to left field by Dom Leo (Knoxville, Tenn.) to make it an 11-4 affair.
Cagle entered play with the league's best ERA having allowed just six earned runs in 2018 before Saturday. The sophomore was charged with six earned on a career-high six walks and four hits over 3 2/3 innings of work to fall to 3-2 on the season.
His counterpart, Hunter Hamilton, improved to 2-2 on the season tossing seven innings scattering nine hits and a walk while striking out three. He allowed four runs, one of which was earned.
Leo produced his first-career multi-hit game for C-N reaching base all three times with two knocks as one of four players with multi-hit afternoons. Snapp finished 3-for-5 in the contest.
Wingate was outhit 11-8 in the game as Schneider and Llewellyn were the only two to provide a pair of pokes. Five different players scored twice including each hitter occupying the seven, eight and nine spots in the lineup.
Game Two: WINGATE 5, Carson-Newman 1
On the fifth pitch of the game on a 2-2 offering, Langhorne crushed a line drive that shot over the fence in left-center field to put the Eagles ahead 1-0. It was the first time since Ryan Addington at Catawba on Feb. 24, 2017 that a C-N lead-off batter launched a dinger.
The lead did not last long as Wingate batted around in the bottom of the first to surge on top 4-1 doing so again with two outs. Dalton Long (Powell, Tenn.) retired two of the first three on five pitches. He promptly was the next two on eight pitches to load the bases. A wild pitch tied the game before another walk loaded the bags again. A base hit Little off the leg of Long gave the Bulldogs the lead. Branton stepped in and floated a ball to center field that dropped in front of Tyler Thompson (Gallatin, Tenn.) to cap the scoring.
Mellett added a run with a solo blast to right field with one out in the second stanza. It was a 0-2 pitch to expand the advantage to 5-1.
Errors helped the Eagles get a run back in the fourth. Thompson reached on a throwing error by Schneider at third. A two-out walk put two men on base. Genter hit a grounder to short that Branton sailed past second base trying to get the lead runner to score Thompson to make it 5-2. A walk to Langhorne loaded the bases. Sharpe rifled a ball to right but it was right in the tracks of Forry to strand the bases loaded.
After a ground out, Langhorne pounded a 1-2 pitch over the fence in right-center field to pull the Eagles within a pair. Two batters later with two outs, Snapp rolled a ball out to shortstop. Branton fielded in front of the second-base bag and threw wildly to first to bring the tying run to plate. Alex Rodriguez was summoned out of the bullpen and set down Ethan Goforth (Blacksburg, Va.) looking on three straight pitches to end the contest.
Wingate starting pitcher Austin Turgeon had two different points where he retired eight straight in the game as he hurled 6 2/3 frames of baseball striking out five pushing his record to 4-2. The righty allowed three runs, two earned on four hits and three walks.
Long took his second loss of the season recording just four outs on 52 pitches allowing five earned runs on five hits and four walks.
The bullpen duo of Will Gardner (Morristown, Tenn.) and Matt Bradley (Talbott, Tenn.) threw the final 4 2/3 frames allowing two base runners as Bradley struck out four.
Each of the four hits collected by the Eagles in the game came from the top three slots in the lineup as Langhorne tallied his second multi-homer effort of the season.
Mellett and Branton each had two hits as Branton drove in a pair to help the Bulldogs collect six overall knocks in the game.
The Eagles return home for the first of eight straight against second-ranked Belmont Abbey on Tuesday with first pitch slated for 3 p.m. Video and audio streams will be available on cneagles.com/live starting at 2:50 p.m.
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