JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Mars Hill piled up 20 hits scoring seven times in the first inning before using a late sacrifice fly to take down Carson-Newman in a wild 14-13 contest Friday at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex in the first SAC home game of the year for the Eagles.
"They came right out from the get-go with great at-bats, put a seven spot up and we are trying to play catch up," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "That is very difficult to do but the guys did that to take the lead but we could never extend the lead. That's credit to Mars Hill. Mentally, they were a much tougher group today. That's because of coaching. I did a terrible job preparing these guys for this type of condition and we had upperclassmen that did not perform."
After sweeping the series last year, Carson-Newman (11-6, 2-2) suffers a ninth straight loss at home to Mars Hill (5-10, 3-1) having not beaten the Lions in Tennessee since 2014.
Mars Hill built an early lead with a massive first inning. The Lions sent 11 to plate in the top of the first and scored a touchdown with a perfect PAT.
Austin Treadway took the first pitch of the game over the wall in left to give Mars Hill a 1-0 lead before the game was even a minute old. Five of the next six batters would reach base successfully for the Lions. Casey Mawhinney, Scottie Lee and Jordan Lathe would all drive in the next three runs with a pair of singles and a double, respectively.
Treadway came back up to the plate and completed the seven-run first for the Lions with a base hit back up the middle.
The Lions would tack on another run in the top of the second before the Eagles mounted their rally.
After a walk, a wild pitch, a passed ball and a single with one out, Scottie Lee dribbled a ball to third that plated Ruben Trillo for an unearned run.
Carson-Newman pulled within three in the bottom of the second. With two outs, back-to-back Eagles reached on errors by the Lions third baseman.
Bryce Hanley drove in the first run with an infield single to short. A walk to Tyler Thompson loaded the bases. Then, Gunner Ricketts drew a four-pitch walk to bring in the second run of the inning before Hanley raced home on a wild pitch.
Zach Boze doubled off the wall in left to get the Eagles within three runs, 8-5.
Carson-Newman made it all the way back in the bottom of the third. A walk, a single to right and another base on balls loaded things up for the Eagles with two outs. That set the table for Thompson. With the shift on, Thompson poked a ball opposite field up the right field line. A stand up triple cleared the bases on a 3-1 pitch and tied the game at eight.
Thompson then raced home on a wild pitch to give Carson-Newman a 9-8 lead.
It wouldn't last long though. The Lions got it all back and then some in the top of the fifth. Jordan Lathe led off the inning with a double off the wall in left center. An infield single off a diving Zach Boze gave the Lions runners on the corners.
Cal Hubbard tied the game with a sacrifice fly to center. However, the Lions weren't done.
After an error on a fielder's choice, Kameron Reynolds pushed the Lions back into the lead with a run-scoring double to left center. The unearned run gave the Lions a 9-8 lead. Ruben Trillo rounded out the scoring in the inning driving in two with a double to right center to stretch the edge to 12-9.
However, the insanity only continued in the bottom of the fifth inning. Chris Caldwell led off the inning with a walk. He took second and then third on a pair of wild pitches. A walk to Jordan Griffin gave the Eagles a pair of runners on the corners. The third wild pitch of the inning brought in Caldwell and pulled C-N within two, 12-10.
After a Hanley one-out single to left center, Thompson came back up. He pulled a base hit through the right side of the infield against the shift to plate Mark Treadway before Thompson moved to second on the throw. Gunnar Ricketts leveled things up with an RBI groundout to short, before Thompson gave the Eagles the lead again scoring on a wild pitch.
Mars Hill tied it up at 13 in the top of the sixth. A hit batter and an infield single gave the Lions two aboard without an out. Austin Purser knocked a ground ball to short that allowed Lee to race home and level the score.
The Lions pulled ahead in the top of the ninth. A one-out single and double from Lala and Bailey gave the Lions a pair of runners in scoring position. Casey Mawhinney struck out, but made it to first to load the bases on a wild pitch that kicked off the home plate umpire and ricocheted toward the MHU dugout.
That set the stage for Lee to give MHU the lead with a sacrifice fly to center on what could have been the final out of the inning.
"Anyone that is competitor would have a tough time sleeping tonight," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "That's what competitors do – they want to get back out there. In baseball we are fortunate to be able to do that. Let it sting. Let it hurt. If it doesn't then there is something wrong with you. Tomorrow, our focus, intent and preparation has to be even better so we can overcome some things."
Thompson paced C-N's offensive effort going 3-for-4 with four RBIs and three runs scored. Ricketts posted a 2-for-4 day with two RBIs and Treadway and Hanley each scored three times.
Between the two teams, 10 pitchers logged at least one out with only three tossing a scoreless outing. Cody Cline earned the win for the Lions tossing four frames and Carlton Jackson tallied the save.
Seven different Lions produced a multi-hit effort with Jordan Lathe leading the way with four hits. Five hitters had a multi-RBI day led by three from Scottie Lee.
The two sides wrap up the slate with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at noon from the friendly confines. Both games will have audio and video streams available on cneagles.com/live.
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