JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Behind three homers and a strong starting outing by Matt Bradley, Carson-Newman avenged a 6-5 setback in the first game of its doubleheader to blow out Charleston 12-1 in the night cap and seal a series victory over the Golden Eagles on Saturday at Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
For the series, Carson-Newman (9-3) pitching held Charleston (3-6) to a .167 batting average while the Eagles blasted six home runs and hit .351 as a unit. Jordan Griffin (Ellerslie, Ga.) led the charge going 7-for-9 with a long ball and four RBIs. Five Eagles tallied multiple RBIs with Henry Jackson (Waxhaw, N.C.) pacing the unit with five.
The Orange and Blue improve to 17-2 all-time against the Mountain East Conference with the Charleston's win on Saturday being the first victory by a member of that league since May 25, 1999 when West Virginia State eliminated the Eagles from the College World Series.
Game One: CHARLESTON 6, Carson-Newman 5
Defensive miscues allowed the Golden Eagles to score four times in the top of the third. After an error put runners at the corners with one out, an errant pick-off throw to third base allowed a run to touch home. A miscommunication allowed a pop up to drop on the pitcher's mound before a walk loaded the bases. Tyler Dellerman whacked a bases clearing double to the gap in right-center field to make it a 4-0 contest.
Leading off the third inning, Micah Genter (Jasper, Tenn.) launched a 1-1 pitch over the left-field fence for his first home run in his last 164 at bats to get the Eagles on the board and trim the margin to 4-1.
Griffin singled and Andrew Carpenter (Morristown, Tenn.) walked to start off the bottom of the fourth. After a sacrifice bunt, a wild pitch and an RBI ground out by Ryan Potts (Dandridge, Tenn.) inched the Eagles within on at 4-3.
Charleston returned the favor with defensive mistakes in the bottom of the sixth. After Carpenter was hit by a pitch he moved to second on a balk. With two outs, Emery Peterson (Etowah, Tenn.) flipped a ball into right field that was dropped allowing the tying run to score and level the contest at four.
After a lead-off walk in the eighth, Matt Coles (Winter Garden, Fla.) fanned a batter before Pete Costigan cranked the first pitch of his sequence out of the yard to left field to put the visitors on top 6-4.
Carson-Newman had chances in the eighth and ninth innings to tie or take the lead. Two hits out of the first three batters in the bottom of the eighth had runners at second and third base. A wild pitch brought in a run to make it 6-5 with one out before a ground out and fly out ended the threat.
In the ninth, Matt Parkinson (Whitesboro, N.Y.) lined a base hit to right field to open the inning. After a sacrifice bunt put the tying run in scoring position, an intentional walk put the go-ahead run at first base before a strikeout and fly our to right ended the game.
Carson-Newman went 0-for-15 with runners in scoring position in the game stranding 11 runners on base in the game. Griffin and Genter each had two hits. Coles had allowed two runs all year and won seven straight decisions before taking the loss in four frames on the bump.
"We had runners available and had those opportunities," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "Fortunately for them, they were able to induce some weak contact on our hitters because of their pitching. We couldn't get a ball out of the infield. When they made mistakes we scored runs. They just didn't make enough of them for us to get a lead. It was about leaving men on base."
Dellerman was the lone Golden Eagle with a multi-hit day going 2-for-5 with three RBIs with Costigan adding the two RBIs. Jackson Mandella earned the win in relief allowing one run over 3 1/3 innings with three strikeouts.
Game Two: CARSON-NEWMAN 12, Charleston 1
After throwing out a runner at third base to end the top of the first, Jackson cranked his second home run in five days to straightaway center field ambushing the first offering of the inning. Three batters later with a man on base, Zach Boze (Gallatin, Tenn.) blasted a two-run homer over the wall in right-center field to make it a 3-0 start to the contest.
"They have a short memory," Griffin said. "Thank God because I was still thinking about. You play one pitch at a time. That was over and now we are playing. Matt Bradley does his thing. Henry's got one of the best arms around. That's a big lift. That's a momentum lift that we needed. The lead-off home run, great job on a fastball."
Carson-Newman pushed across three more in the second with Griffin driving in Jackson with a base hit to right-center field. With the bases empty, Boze hit his second homer in as many innings, a majestic blast to left field before the club added a run on an error to make the differential 6-0.
With two men on and two outs in the third, Griffin connected for his third hit of the game lacing a ball into left-center field to plate a pair and push the margin to 8-0.
The Eagles added four more in the fourth to swell the bulge to 12-0. Jackson powered a ball to the wall in right field to clear the bases hustling for a triple before scoring on a base hit from Gunnar Ricketts (Hixson, Tenn.).
Matt Bradley (Talbott, Tenn.) at one points retired 11 batters in a row but gave up a lead-off walk in the ninth that scored on a double to left field by J.D. Armstrong to prevent the shutout. The right-hander finished his day with six innings giving up two hits and three walks striking out eight to earn the win for the second week in a row.
Jackson finished a single short of the cycle as the pitcher snared a liner back to the mound his final at bat going 3-for-4 with four RBIs and four runs scored. Griffin connected for a 3-for-3 line with three RBIs and Boze drove in three on his two-homer day.
The Golden Eagles were held to three total hits on the afternoon as the team was forced to use seven pitchers with five of them giving up multiple runs. Drew Beckner finished the game throwing two scoreless innings with three strikeouts and three walks.
The Eagles get their final tune up before the start of South Atlantic Conference play hosting UVA Wise on Tuesday at 2 p.m. with broadcast coverage airing on cneagles.com/live by the Eagle Sports Network.
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