CARROLLTON, Ga. – West Georgia scored multiple runs in four innings and scored eight unanswered runs in the middle of the game to complete a 13-7 comeback win over Carson-Newman on Monday at Cole Field.
"This was different than Tusculum in the fact that our attitudes and efforts were better," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "We were involved every pitch. They have a really good hitting club. It was a good challenge for us on the road. I saw a couple things that we liked. It's the freebies – the walks, hit by pitches and the errors. We have to clean those up a little bit. Right now they come at the worst time. We just have to cut out some of the mistakes."
In the fifth meeting in the series, West Georgia (4-1) beats Carson-Newman (2-5) for the third time and the first time since 2001. The Eagles used three different pitchers with each one giving up multiple runs.
Each of the first three Eagles of the game reached safely. Following a double and a hit batter, Mitchell Balint (Avondale, Pa.) launched a 0-1 offering over the wall in right-center field to give the Eagles a 3-0 edge before the Wolves grabbed the bat.
With one out and a runner at first base following a hit by pitch, Henry Daniels blasted a two-run roundtripper to center field to pull the home club within a run at 3-2.
In the bottom of the third, the Wolves went on top 5-3. Loading the bases with one out, Logan Fink singled down the left-field line to plate a before Cooper Prince sliced a ball into right field to extend the margin to two.
It was a shortlived deficit for the Eagles answering with three runs of their own in the top of the fourth. With one out and the bases loaded, Balint hit a sacrifice fly to right field before Zach Boze (Gallatin, Tenn.) shredded a two-run double to left field to put the visitors ahead 6-5.
Jackson Webb tied the score at six with a one-out double to left field in the bottom of the fifth. Three pitches later, Tyler Presnell blasted a three-run homer to right-center field to put the Wolves back ahead at 9-6.
A hit batter and a walk swung the door open for West Georgia to add to its lead in the bottom of the sixth. Fink blooped a ball down the right field line that dropped bringing in a pair of runs to make it a five-run affair. The home group added a run in each of the next two innings to make it 13-6.
The Eagles got a run back in the top of the ninth on a two-out single to right field by Henry Jackson (Waxhaw, N.C.) as C-N put a pair on base before a strikeout looking capped the day.
Jackson, Will Gibbs (Harrisburg, Ill.) and James Denten (Mt. Prospect, Ill.) each posted a pair of hits as C-N managed 10 knocks on the day while Balint drove in four runs.
The Wolves used eight pitchers giving up four hits in the final five frames after giving up six in the first four innings. Daniels was 3-for-3 with three RBIs and three runs scored while Fink drove in four runs scoring twice.
The Eagles are back in action driving east on Tuesday to take on Shorter at 2 p.m. before returning home for their first three-game series of the year at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
- CN -
