VIDEO: Mark Allen Bounds Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman went 7-for-14 with runners in scoring position using a late surge to pull away late from Bluefield State in a 14-7 victory Monday afternoon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex for its sixth consecutive victory.
"We were hitting balls right at people," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "They were doing a good job battling at the plate. Some of their hitters were hitting balls with hard contact and finding holes. For us, don't let those lack of hits get frustrating to where it affects you later on. Be happy with the hard contact because for us that is a quality at-bat."
In seven meetings, Carson-Newman (27-20) has outscored Bluefield State (15-18) 108-27 as the Eagles have won each contest. The Big Blues posted their highest run total in a game besting their previous tally of four done twice.
Peyton Durham opened the scoring in the top of the first inning with his eighth home run of the season, a solo shot to straightaway center with one out. After two singles and a wild pitch, Cole Blocker hit a sacrifice fly to right field to put the Big Blues on top 2-0 before C-N came to the plate.
Three walks loaded the bases for the Eagles in the bottom of the first. Mark Treadway (Friendsville, Tenn.) ripped a base hit over the shortstop and into left field to plate a pair and tie the score. A sacrifice fly from Jordan Griffin (Ellerslie, Ga.) to right field and an RBI double into the gap in right field by Colby Morgan (Hixson, Tenn.) put C-N ahead 4-2 after an inning.
With runners at second and third base and one out in the bottom of the second, Cade Snapp (Seymour, Tenn.) hit a roller to third base. Cole Blocker threw the ball errantly allowing a pair to score and let C-N push the lead to 6-2.
The two programs traded runs in the fourth inning as C-N's lead stayed at four at 7-3. A single by Drew D'Angelo started the fifth for Bluefield State. Two ground outs moved him to third and he scored on an RBI double to right center field by Kevon Moxey slicing the margin to 7-4.
Two hit batters opened the top of the sixth stanza. Following a punch out, D'Angelo hit a grounder to third base. The Eagles got the leader runner at second but the turnover throw to second base allowed Tanner Ray to cross the plate and make it a 7-5 game.
Brett Langhorne (Mechiancsville, Va.) homered for the second straight game ambushing the first pitch of his at-bat in sixth with two outs launching the offering over the scoreboard in right field to get the lead to three runs at 8-5.
Bluefield State cut the deficit to one run in the top of the seventh. An RBI ground out from Kendall Rolen and a base hit to left from Taylor Tibbs produced the runs making the margin 8-7.
C-N had the answer in the bottom of the seventh scoring five times thanks to four stolen bases and two errors. RBI singles from Treadway and Griffin opened the scoring as Griffin scored on a wild pitch. With two outs, Langhorne ripped a base hit into right field to score a pair and push the lead to 13-7.
A two-out single through the left side of the infield by Charlie Brown (Sevierville, Tenn.) allowed the Eagles to add a run to the lead in the bottom of the eighth and stretch the margin to seven at 14-7.
Three players each had three hits for the Eagles as Langhorne led the charge by going 3-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Treadway registered a 3-for-5 day with two runs scored and Morgan had three knocks and an RBI.
The Eagles used six hurlers on the day recording five punch outs as a staff and walking just two men. Luke Friedman (Gilbert, Ariz.) and Jonathan Jacks (Fayetteville, Tenn.) threw scoreless innings to close out the day.
"Today was kind of a job interview for some guys coming in and saying can you get it done in the conference tournament for us," pitching coach Mark Allen Bounds said. "We had some good outings out of some guys and not so great outings out of some others. I think as a whole we got the job done today in a 14-7 game."
Eight different players had hits for Bluefield State as Tanner Brandon, Moxey, Blocker and Rolen each had a pair of hits on the day.
Griffin's group turns its attention to the South Atlantic Conference Baseball Championships that start on Friday at 7:30 p.m. against fourth-seeded Lincoln Memorial from Smokies Stadium. Broadcast coverage begins at 7:20 p.m. with audio and video on cneagles.com/live courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network.
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