JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Earning its first South Atlantic Conference sweep of the year, Carson-Newman beat UVA Wise 15-11 before erasing a seven-run deficit to win an 8-7 walk-off finale Saturday at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
"There were a lot of emotions," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "You are trying to hang on in game one and now you are trying to fight back in game two. The more experiences like this you can have as a club – this is how you grow. You have to chances where you have to hold on to leads and you have to have chances to come back when you are down. The more you can experience this the more it gets put in the memory bank for later on."
Carson-Newman (12-11, 5-1) has rattled off six victories in a row and is off to its best start in league action since 2018 winning its first two league series of the year for the first time since 2020.
Overcoming a seven-run deficit in the nightcap, the Eagles produced their biggest comeback since April 15, 2011 when the club fell behind 7-0 after two innings at Lincoln Memorial. The Orange and Blue tied the score in the fourth before falling behind 8-7 and 11-7 after seven before scoring three in the ninth to win 14-12.
Dating back to a year ago, the Orange and Blue have won five of the last six SAC series with victories in 14 of the last 19 league affairs overall.
Game One: CARSON-NEWMAN 15, UVA Wise 11
Two walks helped the visitors get on the board in the top of the first with Hunter Meador line a base hit into left field with two outs to open the scoring putting the Cavaliers ahead 1-0.
Trey Miller (Rocky Point, N.Y.) opened the game with a double coming home to score the tying run on a base hit through the right side of the infield by Dalton McLain (Greeneville, Tenn.). Two batters later, Mitchell Balint (Avondale, Pa.) stung a ball to the wall in right field for an RBI triple before scoring on a ground out to second base giving the Eagles a 3-1 edge after one.
Two singles sandwiched around a strikeout put two men on base in the bottom of the second. Miller ripped a ball off of the fence in left field to plate the duo with a double and stretch the margin to four at 5-1.
With a man on and two outs in the top of the third, Cole Harness launched a two-run homer over the wall in right-center field to slice the margin in half at 5-3.
For the third inning in a row, the Eagles put up multiple runs scoring two more in the third to go ahead 7-3. Nelson Smith (Goodlettsvile, Tenn.) rifled a single through the left side of the infield to plate the first run. Aiden Gibson (Cleveland, Tenn.) hit a liner off of the glove of the shortstop to get the lead back to four.
After getting a run in the fourth, the Cavaliers tied the score with a three-run fifth inning. A sacrifice fly brought in the first run before hits from Meador and Reed knotting the tally at seven.
Carson-Newman responded with a two-run bottom of the fifth going back in front 9-7. Zach Boze (Gallatin, Tenn.) put the team back in front with a double tucked inside of the third-base bag. Gibson ripped a ball off of the glove of a leaping shortstop to bring in Boze.
The Eagles scored five times in the sixth inning with Ryan Potts (Dandridge, Tenn.) clearing the bases with a three-run double to the gap in right-center field and Will Gibbs (Harrisburg, Ill.) plated a pair with a base hit through the right side of the infield.
After C-N added a run on a sacrifice fly to right field in the seventh, the margin was 15-7 going into the ninth. Wise sent 10 men to the plate scoring four times before getting the tying run to the plate. Meador struck out swinging to seal the win.
Six Eagles produced mulit-hit games with the bottom third in the lineup going 8-for-13 with seven RBIs led by a 3-for-4 effort with three RBIs and two runs scored by Potts.
"It was all my mindset," Potts said. "I was thinking too much when I was going through that long streak with no hits. I came in here focusing on what I need to hit and where I need to hit the ball."
Grif Hughes (Knoxville, Tenn.) earned his third win of the year firing 3 1/3 innings of one-run baseball.
Reed paced the Cavaliers at the plate going 3-for-5 with three RBIs while Harness drove in three and Meador had three hits and two RBIs.
Game Two: CARSON-NEWMAN 8, UVA Wise 7
On a 1-2 pitch to start the game, Nick Badgett blasted an opposite field homer to open the scoring. Each of the first six batters reached safely with Meador capping a five-run first with a three-run homer to left field. The Cavaliers scored two more in the second to take a 7-0 advantage.
In the bottom of the second, the Eagles scored four times thanks to a pair of errors by the Cavaliers. A dropped fly ball loaded the bases getting a run on a fielder's choice. After a sacrifice fly, McLain laced a single into center field to bring in a run before a throw from the center fielder ended up in the dugout to make it a 7-4 contest.
Alert base runner keyed a three-run sixth to tie the score at seven. The Eagles saw the first three reach via hits with Gibbs bringing in a run with a single. Two wild pitches helped the club tie pull even.
After the Cavs got a lead-off double in the seventh, the team stranded the bases loaded without getting a run.
Balint singled to start the bottom of the inning. Sam Astern (Wellington, Fla.) pinch ran moving to second base on a wild pitch hustling to third on a fly out to center. Gibson drew a walk on a ball in the dirt that trinkled up the first base line, Astern raced home and touched home to give the Eagles their second walk-off win in as a many weeks.
Potts was the only Eagle with a multi-hit game going 2-for-4 with two runs scored finishing the series with six hits and four RBIs. Overall, the Eagles hit .363 for the weekend with five players notching four or more hits. Gibbs added six hits and five RBIs in 10 at bats.
Hunter Harritan (Huntersville, N.C.) tossed the final three innings for the Eagles allowing one hit and one walk while fanning five for his second victory of the campaign.
Meador went 2-for-4 with four RBIs in the game posting seven hits and six RBIs for the series. Hunter Anderson fell to 0-3 on the rubbers allowing three runs getting five outs.
The Eagles wrap up their nine-game homestand on Tuesday at 3 p.m. against Lee in the second meeting between the two clubs. Fans can watch the game on FloSports with a paid subscription and an audio-only stream on cneagles.com/live from the Eagle Sports Network.
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