JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman pitching limited Queens to one run in a four-game series posting a pair of shutouts in 3-0 and 7-0 victories over the Royals Sunday at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex to run its South Atlantic Conference winning streak to eight games.
The Eagles are off to their best start in league action since 2013 while winning eight SAC affairs in a year for the first time since the 2006 club opened the campaign with nine triumphs in a row. Carson-Newman (15-4, 10-2) recorded consecutive shutouts for the first time since April 2008, a span of 607 games and 4,729 days when the unit blanked Wingate twice. With three shutouts on the weekend, the club had not had that many in a year since 2016.
"It's a big lift for us because that was the thing at the beginning of the year that if we had a question mark it was in our pitching," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "We lost a guy to Covid and switched it up a bit. For our guys to be extended and perform that well says a lot. All hitters have a hole. The idea is that if the pitcher has a strength to matches with the hitter's weakness, you have a chance of winning. Fortunately we were able to do that this weekend. It went our way. Very happy for all of our pitchers."
In the four-game set, the pitching staff limited Queens (6-19, 4-16) to a .170 batting average and 18 total hits, only three of which went for extra bases. C-N hurlers fanned 25 batters and walked three in 32 innings on the rubber. Of the 32 innings, the pitching staff faced the minimum 19 times with a dozen clean 1-2-3 frames.
At the plate, 12 of the team's 31 hits went for extra bases as nine different players had multiple hits. Henry Jackson (Waxhaw, N.C.) led the team by going 5-for-9 with five Eagles driving in three runs.
Game One: CARSON-NEWMAN 3, Queens 0 (7 Innings)
With one out in the first inning, Brendan Krob (Justice, Ill.) hit a bouncer to first base. Drake Harris threw the ball wide of second base looking for the double play allowing Jackson to race home from second base and put the Eagles ahead 1-0.
Andrew Carpenter kickstarted the second inning with a base hit to left field before moving to second base on a sacrifice bunt and to third base on a passed ball. Charlie Brown (Sevierville, Tenn.) flew out to left field to score the game's second run of the day.
Carson-Newman put runners at second and third base with one out in the bottom of the fifth. Kilian Daughtry (Simsponville, S.C.) hit a screamer to third that was snared by Mason Pickard on a bounce but Jackson took off for home scoring as Pickard tumbled on the ground taking the out at first base seeing the home club push the margin to 3-0.
Tyler Shaver (Dandridge, Tenn.) did the rest on the mound tossing a complete game shutout, his first time going the distance. The right-hander faced the minimum six times thanks to three double plays in the game. He scattered three hits and a walk fanning six tossing 75 pitches in the game to earn his third win of the year.
Tyler Thompson (Gallatin, Tenn.) and Harrison Travis (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) each had a pair of hits for the Eagles who posted seven on the day as five different players produced a knock.
Nick Charleson, Queens' starting pitcher, worked a complete game as well firing six innings taking his third loss of the year. The righty allowed three runs, two earned runs, on seven hits and a walk striking out one.
The Royals were limited to three hits as Zach Weston was the only player to reach base twice drawing a walk in the third and singling in the sixth.
Game Two: CARSON-NEWMAN 7, Queens 0
With the bases loaded and one out in the first frame, Daughtry hit into a fielder's choice to get the game's first run across the plate putting the Eagles ahead 1-0.
Micah Genter (Jasper, Tenn.) started the fifth inning with a double into the left-field corner. Two batters later with one out, Gunnar Ricketts (Hixson, Tenn.) launched his second homer of the year on a 0-1 pitch to right field to push the lead out to 3-0.
Queens put two runners on base with one out in the eighth when Carter Foster lined a base hit to center field. Charlie Brown (Sevierville, Tenn.) threw a rope to the plate to gun down the runner and keep the shutout in place. A pick off at second base ended the threat.
In the bottom of the eighth, Genter drew a two-out walk to set up Thompson. The senior finished off a nine-pitch at bat with a long ball to left field on a 3-2 offering for his third home run of the year. Two pitches later, Ricketts left the yard again driving a 0-1 pitch over the fence in right-center field. C-N added a run on a base hit by Matt Parkinson (Whitesboro, N.Y.) that the center fielder overran swelling the margin to 7-0.
Mason Mooney (San Jose, Calif.) earned his first start of the year and tossed 7 1/3 scoreless innings fanning three and giving up five hits and a walk to earn his first win in a C-N uniform. Ryan Smithson (Monroe, Ga.) recorded the final five outs to earn the save.
"I tried to command the strike zone and throw early strikes," Mooney said. "I was able to watch these guys for three games before my start so I had a pretty good idea going into the game. It was huge because I was taking notes in my notebook on their weaknesses and I pitched to my strengths."
Ricketts became the second Eagle this year to produce a multi-homer day finishing 3-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored.
Tanner Jacobson took the loss giving up three earned runs, four walks and five hits over 4 2/3 innings punching out four. Riley Cheek led the offense with a 2-for-4 day.
The Eagles ignite a five-game road trip traveling to seventh-ranked Lee on Tuesday for a 4 p.m. first pitch in Cleveland, Tenn. against the Flames.
- CN -
