HICKORY, N.C. – Zach Boze blasted two home runs and drove in six runs leading Carson-Newman to a series victory to start South Atlantic Conference play Sunday afternoon at Bears Field over Lenoir-Rhyne 9-2 in the rubber game of the three-game set.
"He came up really big," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "We had opportunities to open up big lead and missed out on opportunities early in the game. We could have had a bigger lead. He certainly delivered for us. Zach had very mature at-bats and took advantage of hitter's counts.
"The defense was solid. Matt Coles gave us his best outing as an Eagle. He was really good with off-speed pitches. Nick Adkins came in in a tight situation and gave us good stuff. To win two on the road after dropping the first says a lot about the guys."
Boze, a freshman from Gallatin, Tenn., launched his first two taters of the year joining Tyler Thompson (Gallatin, Tenn.) as the two Eagles this season with multi-homer efforts. He went 3-for-4 with six RBIs and two runs scored. It was the most runs driven in since Paul Kirby knocked in seven against Shorter on April 11, 2017, 140 games and 1,049 days ago.
Carson-Newman's bullpen fired the final 4 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball giving up four hits and two walks. Nick Adkins (Knoxville, Tenn.) picked up the win getting seven outs and striking out four. Matt Coles (Winter Garden, Fla.) worked the first 4 2/3 innings giving up a pair on four hits and two walks with two punch outs.
The top three men in the lineup combined to go 7-for-12 with seven RBIs and eight runs scored. Thompson posted a 2-for-5 with an RBI and three runs scored. Gunnar Ricketts (Hixson, Tenn.) added a 2-for-3 day crossing the plate thrice.
Carson-Newman (11-5, 2-1) wins a series in Hickory for the first time since 2012 and have won nine of the last 13 games against Lenoir-Rhyne (8-7, 1-2).
Thompson ambushed the first pitch of the contest lifting it over the left-field wall for a solo homer to open the game. The junior became the first Eagle to lead off a road game with a roundtripper since Brett Langhorne did it at No. 24 Wingate on March 31, 2018, 79 games and 694 days ago.
In the third inning, Ricketts drew a lead-off walk setting the stage for Boze. The freshman powered up with his first-career home run down the left-field line to expand the Eagles bulge to 3-0.
Lenoir-Rhyne scratched the scoreboard in the bottom of the third. Bryce Stober reached on an infield single and moved to second base on a ground out. David Bell brought in Stober with a base hit to center to slice the margin to two at 3-1.
With runners at the corners and two outs in the top of the fifth, Chris Caldwell (Seymour, Tenn.) lined a base hit into center to get the lead back to three at 4-1.
With two men on and two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Xander Ferlenda tucked a ball inside of the third base bag to bring in a run and put runners at second and third base. Adkins entered from the bullpen and fell behind 3-0 before freezing Will Jones for strike three to end the threat and keep C-N ahead 4-2.
Griffin's group played add on in the sixth with Thompson scoring on a wild pitch and Boze delivering a knock to left field, both coming with two outs, to stretch the lead to four runs at 6-2.
With two men on base and two outs, Boze launched a 2-0 offering over the left-field wall for his second homer of the game to push the margin out to 9-2.
John Grigg was hit with the loss for the Bears giving up four earned runs on four hits and three walks fanning five to fall to 2-2 on the season. Stober registered a 3-for-3 day with two runs scored and Bell tallied two hits.
The Eagles continue their road trip with a visit to Young Harris on Tuesday at 2 p.m. Follow @CNathletics on Twitter and visit cneagles.com for all of the latest news and notes.
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