HARROGATE, Tenn. - For the third straight game, the Carson-Newman baseball team blew a lead in the seventh inning or later, falling to Lincoln Memorial 3-2 on Friday, Mar. 25.
The Eagles started hot, with Andrew Carpenter recording a leadoff double to open the game. Carpenter moved up 90 feet on a sacrifice bunt by Micah Genter, but a pair of strikeouts by Patrick Queener ended the scoring threat in the first.
The Carson-Newman bats continued their hot start, with Jordan Griffin recording a one out double in the top of the second inning. Griffin came home to score later in the inning, thanks to an RBI double by Gunnar Ricketts off of the right field wall to give the Orange and Blue the early 1-0 lead.
Carpenter once again reached third base after recording a leadoff double in the top of the third, but another strikeout from Queener stranded the senior at third for the second time in three innings.
Lincoln Memorial threatened for the first time in the bottom of the third after a Cameron Bowen single moved Chris Hall to third with one out, but a 6-4-3 double play turned by Genter, Carpenter and Killian Daughtry kept the Splitters off the board.
In the top of the sixth, Zach Boze opened the frame with a leadoff single, before moving all the way to third thanks to a sac bunt by Luke Goforth and a groundout by Griffin. Ricketts came through again for the Eagles, recording his second RBI double of the day, scoring Boze and swelling the C-N lead to 2-0.
Carson-Newman looked to add on in the top of the seventh, opening the inning with a single by Matt Parkinson and Carpenter reaching safely via the walk. Kyle Norton replaced Queener on the mound for LMU, ending the threat by getting Parkinson out on a fielders choice play at third and then getting Killian Daughtry to ground out into an inning-ending double play.
Sam Mast cut the C-N lead in half with one swing of the bat, getting the Splitters on the board with a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the seventh inning. Despite giving up the home run, Matt Coles recorded the third straight quality start for an Eagle pitcher, going six innings, giving up four hits, one run, walking two, striking out two and hitting one LMU batter.
Jake Wright entered the game from the bullpen in the bottom of the seventh, forcing three quick outs on nine pitches, all recorded by Daughtry. The inning ended with Wright picking off Kasten Harvey at first.
The Eagles had another chance to add some insurance runs in the top of the eighth after Boze opened the inning with a leadoff single and advanced to second on another Goforth sac bunt. Once again, C-N could not bring Boze home, as Kyle Norton forced a Griffin ground out and struck out Ricketts.
After Norton sat Carson-Newman down in order in the top of the ninth, Wright struck out Carson Boles to open up the bottom of the final frame in regulation. Wright then plunked Ryan Kurth during the next at bat, bringing DJ Alexander in to pinch run. An RBI double off the left field wall by Mast scored Alexander from first tied the game at two runs apiece, and a Harvey ground rule double to right ended the game, giving LMU the 3-2 walkoff victory.
The win breaks Lincoln Memorial's five game losing streak to Carson-Newman and is the Railsplitters 40th win over the Eagles all-time.
Carson-Newman finished the game just 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position, with both hits coming from Ricketts. Ricketts finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBI and two doubles. C-N is now just 3-for-28 with runners in scoring position in their last three games, scoring a combined seven runs.
Norton earns the win for the Splitters, going three innings, allowing one hit and striking out three while holding Carson-Newman scoreless. Norton is now 3-0 this season.
Wright falls to 0-3 on the season, going 2.1 innings allowing two hits and two runs while striking out a trio of batters.
Carson-Newman will look to rebound and win the series with a doubleheader at Lamar Hennon Field on Saturday, Mar. 26. The first game starts at 1:00 PM with the second game being played approximately 30 minutes after. A live audio stream is available for free from the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live for fans unable to make the trip to Harrogate.
