LIVINGSTON, Ala. – In two games decided by a total of four runs, Carson-Newman fell 8-7 to Emmanuel losing in the final at bat to the Lions before bouncing back to take down West Alabama 13-10 in the night cap Saturday at Tartt Field.
"You need to have a level of confidence through training and experience," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "We have some guys that aren't confident in their body language. Some guys are insecure about their abilities. We didn't pitch well in the first game and that's the catcher's fault. The pitchers are relying too much on catchers. We are giving up too many freebies. That's not the sign of a good team. Bradley does a phenomenal job pitching in game two. That thing should be over but guys out of the pen didn't do a good job. Harbin did a great job finishing the game for us."
While the Lions game was a neutral contest, Carson-Newman (6-2) expands its road winning streak to six games in a row taking down the Tigers in both contests over the weekend. Emmanuel (4-4) wins the first-ever meeting between the teams while West Alabama (0-8) remains winless on the season.
Game One: EMMANUEL 8, Carson-Newman 7
The teams were scoreless through two innings before Emmanuel exploded for four runs in the third. Anthony Baez opened the scoring with a double to straightaway center before scoring on a base hit by Cody Minnis. Following a sacrifice fly, Johnathan Manibusan singled through the left side to expand the early edge to 4-0.
After an RBI groundout from Kilian Daughtry (Simpsonville, S.C.) put the Eagles on the board in the third, Luke Patty made it a four-run game against with an RBI single in the fifth.
Carson-Newman began its comeback in the bottom of the fifth with Gunnar Ricketts (Hixson, Tenn.) lining a double to right field to bring in a run before a Daughtry sacrifice fly trimmed the margin in half at 5-3.
Despite Judd Roberts blasting a homer with one out in the sixth to get it back to a 6-3 game, the Eagles scored in each of the next three innings to take the lead. Zach Boze (Gallatin, Tenn.) started the comeback bid by cranking his first homer of the year, a two-run blast to left field in the sixth.
Matt Parkinson (Whitesboro, N.Y.) tied the score by pushing a two-out single to right field in the seventh. Henry Jackson (Waxhaw, N.C.) gave the Eagles the lead in the bottom of the eighth with a two-out double down the left-field line making it a 7-6 game going into the ninth.
Since 2015, the Eagles were 116-4 when leading after eight innings. Baez drew a lead-off walk but a fly out to right and a pop out to short had the tying run standing at second base with two outs. A fielding error at third extended the game and allowed Trey Campbell to line a single into left field to give the Lions the lead.
Carson-Newman went down in order in the ninth for their first road loss of the season. Jackson led the Eagles' lumber going 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored while Daughtry and Boze each drove in a pair.
Minnis was the only Lion with a multi-hit day going 2-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Nine different players had at least one hit.
Game Two: CARSON-NEWMAN 13, West Alabama 10
The Eagles wasted no time jumping out to a lead in the first inning as Jackson tripled to the gap in left-center field to start the contest scoring on a ground out by Ricketts to put the Eagles in front 1-0.
In the second stanza, the visitors tacked on two more runs with Ricketts igniting the offense with a double to left-center field coming in to score on a ground out from Daughtry. Two pitches later, Parkinson deposited a 0-1 offering over the wall in left-center field to push the margin out to 3-0.
Carson-Newman pounced in the fourth inning scoring six times in the inning. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases before a wild pitch started the scoring. After a hit batter, two bases loaded walks added two to the tally. Andrew Carpenter (Morristown, Tenn.) flared a ball into center field that fell in between three players to clear the bases with Boze sliding in to beat the tag at the dish and swell the lead to 9-0.
Once again the Eagles loaded the bases in the fifth settling for one run this time. Ricketts slid a ball through the right side of the infield to get the Eagles into double digits and extend the lead to 10-0.
After the visitors added a run on an error to make it 11-0 in the top of the sixth, the Tigers burst for five runs in the bottom of the inning doing all of the damage with two outs. After a wild pitch plated a run, Jonathan Thibodeau and Brayden Lyman produced runs with back-to-back hits. Connor Christian capped the big inning with a two-run blast to left to inch the home crew with an 11-5 score.
After an error put Micah Genter on base to start the eight, Jackson roped a double down the right-field line bring in the run before scoring on a fielder's choice ground out by Daughtry to open up a 13-5 lead.
With one out, West Alabama tallied back-to-back singles. Christian popped a ball to center field that was dropped allowing both runners to score. Rashad Blount doubled in Christian to make it a 13-8 game going to the ninth.
The first four batters of the inning reached with Lyman driving in a run on a base hit to load the bases with no one out. Jackson Harbin (Gastonia, N.C.) came on in relief and gave up a sacrifice fly before retiring the final two batters and seal the victory.
Racking up 13 hits, only three came with runners in scoring position for the Eagles going 3-for-24 compared to a 7-for-18 mark by the Tigers. Six Eagles tallied multi-hit days and four drove in multiple runs. Daughtry went 2-for-5 with a team-high three RBIs. Jackson and Ricketts each had two hits and two RBIs. Genter tallied two more pokes and scored three times and Griffin scored twice and tallied a pair of knocks.
Matt Bradley (Talbott, Tenn.) dazzled on the mound facing three over the minimum in five frames on the bump giving up one hit and no runs striking out eight to earn his first win of the season. The right-hander threw 68 pitches in his outing.
Kyle Vogler went 4-for-5 to lead the offense for the Tigers while Christian drove in five runs on just one hit. Lyman polished off a 3-for-5 day with two RBIs and two runs scored.
The Eagles return to the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex on Tuesday afternoon against King for a 2 p.m. first pitch. Broadcast coverage airs on the Eagle Sports Network with audio and video streams available on cneagles.com/live.
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