JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Four errors led to three unearned runs as Carson-Newman could not overcome an early deficit falling 5-3 to Shorter on Tuesday at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
"You shouldn't win when you make mistakes," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "We are not efficient. Our rate of learning is not what I thought it would be. I thought it would be more accelerated in our learning. We are still making mistakes. We are still missing signs. The game itself, we don't know what it going on. I thought we would be quicker at it.
"We are competitively immature. In big moments, we are immature. It's not a bad thing but we have some young guys that aren't used to being in college games. Their rate of learning is a little slower than we thought it would be. When we are getting punched in the mouth, we aren't able to answer the bell."
Shorter (14-5) has won each of the last three meetings with Carson-Newman (15-9) with the Eagles posting their highest error total of the season tallying at least one miscue for the eighth straight game.
With two outs and two men on in the second stanza, Jakob Woods hit a blooper down the right field line that dropped in to bring in a run. The throw to the plate went into C-N's dugout to bring in the other runner and put the Eagles in a 2-0 hole.
Shorter added a run to its lead in the top of the sixth without a hit. With runners at the corners on one out, a chopper back to the mound was bobbled allowing a run to touch home and push the margin to 3-0.
The Hawks had retired 10 in a row before Malik Kyle (Jefferson City, Tenn.) drew a four-pitch walk in the sixth. A single and another base on balls loaded the bases with two outs. Back-to-back walks to Brendan Krob (Justice, Ill.) and Chris Caldwell (Seymour, Tenn.) trimmed the deficit to one at 3-2 going to the seventh.
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What a diving grab by @henryjackson
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In the next inning, the seventh, Shorter scored twice to get the lead back to three at 5-2. Aaron Reardon laced a single to center field to score Woods and a double play ball brought home Peter Whittman.
Henry Jackson started the eighth inning with a double to the gap in right center field moving to second base on a balk. Zach Boze (Gallatin, Tenn.) drove him in with a sacrifice fly to center field.
Tyler Thompson (Gallatin, Tenn.) opened the bottom of the ninth with a walk but never moved as Jonathan Pintaro, one of Shorter's weekend starters, entered to get the final two outs.
Carson-Newman went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position in the game stranding 10 men on base. Gunnar Ricketts (Hixson, Tenn.) reached base three times tallying two knocks with Jackson also posting two of the team's five hits.
Logan Cogburn (Friendsville, Tenn.) took the loss despite striking out a career-high eight batters over 4 2/3 innings giving up two runs, one earned, on five hits and a walk. Hunter Long (Powell, Tenn.) worked three scoreless innings to close out the game.
Woods went 3-for-4 out of the nine slot in the lineup for the visitors as the only play on his side with multiple hits. Coleton Barnes earned the win tossing five scoreless frames fanning three giving up three hits and one walk.
The Eagles return to action with a visit to Alabama-Huntsville on Wednesday at 2 p.m. before returning to the home ball park to host UVA-Wise starting Friday in South Atlantic Conference action.
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