NEWBERRY, S.C. – Recording its ninth comeback win of the season, Carson-Newman scored the final six runs of the day to take the series finale 6-3 after falling 4-0 to No. 9 Newberry at the Smith Road Complex Saturday afternoon in South Atlantic Conference action.
"That was a grind because we didn't play great baseball," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "We made mistakes. Our at bats with runners in scoring position wasn't what we needed it to be. A lot of that has to do with the opponent. They are sound and disciplined. They know who they are and play their brand. To come away with a win was big. We fell behind early. [Tyler] Shaver didn't have great stuff but he hung in there enough. Three runs is doable. Fortunately we got some guys on and manufactured a run. Jake Wright was huge. I've been on Mitchell Balint a lot and he did a great job today."
Carson-Newman (15-15, 8-4) defeats a top 10 team for the first time since winning at seventh-ranked Catawba on Feb. 28, 2021, a span of 753 days ago. The Eagles had lost five straight to Newberry (25-5, 10-2) prior to getting a victory in the finale with the Wolves holding a 20-14 edge on their home field in the series. Newberry had rattled off 11 straight home wins prior to the loss, its 18th in the last 113 home affairs.
Summing up the series, the Orange and Blue had twice as many at bats with runners in scoring position, 33 to 16, but each team registered six hits. The Wolves were 5-for-7 getting a runner in from third base with less than two outs while the Eagles were 6-for-16. Ten of Newberry's 25 hits for the weekend came with two outs.
Game One: No. 9 NEWBERRY 4, Carson-Newman 0
The Eagles were shut out for the first time this year and just the 10th time since the 2015 campaign. It was the first time the unit was blanked in league action since falling 6-0 to No. 18 Catawba in game two on March 17, 2019, 1,462 days ago.
Newberry opened the scoring in the bottom of the fifth manufacturing a run to jump ahead 1-0. Jomar Lugo was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and to third on a wild pitch before Jacob LeBron drove him home with a single through the middle.
With two outs and runners at first and second base, Donovan Ford hit a bouncer behind the first-base bag. The throw was late to first and the runner from second hustled in to score. LeBron singled in a run and a bases loaded walk expanded the cushion to 4-0.
The Eagles left eight men on base and the bases loaded in the fourth as each team finished with nine hits in the game. James Denten (Mt. Prospect, Ill.) was on base four times with three hits and Dalton McLain (Greeneville, Tenn.) tallied two knocks.
Mason Mooney (San Jose, Calif.) took the loss giving up one run over 4 1/3 innings pitched scattering six hits and a walk.
LeBron went 4-for-5 with two RBIs while the rest of the club went 5-for-25. His brother, Ethan, tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings giving up seven hits and a walk while not striking out a batter.
Game Two: CARSON-NEWMAN 6, No. 9 Newberry 3
The Wolves jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first frame. Ford ripped a single to left field and raced around to score on a double from LeBron. A slow trickling grounder to second brought in LeBron.
On the second pitch of the third, Ford ripped a ball down the left-field line inside of the pole to add a run to the Newberry lead, 3-0.
The Eagles had runners at second and third base in the top of the fourth inning when Zach Boze (Gallatin, Tenn.) flew out to right field. LeBron threw out the runner tagging from third base to keep the visitors off the board.
Carson-Newman broke through in the top of the fifth inning scoring three times to tie the score at three. After a bases loaded walk, Denten flipped a base hit over the shortstop to bring in a pair to square the tally.
Griffin's group snatched the lead in the top of the seventh scoring thrice to go ahead 6-3. After a walk, McLain hit a grounder to short, the ball was thrown away allowing both runners to move up a bag. Following an intentional walk to Denten, Mitchell Balint (Avondale, Pa.) singled through the drawn-in infield to bring in two runs. Ben Willcoxon (Dandridge, Tenn.) dropped a flawless bunt down the third-base line to bring home Denten and make it six runs in a row.
The win was the ninth comeback victory of the year being behind 3-0 through four frames in the finale. Three Eagles posted multi-hit days with Balint going 2-for-4 with two RBIs, the game-winning hit.
Jake Wright (Ringgold, Ga.) was lights out in relief firing four shutout innings giving up three hits while fanning six batters to earn the sixth win of his career.
"I had a good connection with Mitch early on," Wright said. "Honestly the defense was fantastic. When they are doing their job, it makes my job a lot easier. I knew when I got in the game, I just had to get the lineup back up and let them handle it."
Newberry's bullpen allowed three runs recording eight outs after Tyler Chinpire tossed 4 1/3 innings of three-run baseball. Ford and LeBron each tallied two knocks.
Returning home, Carson-Newman returns to the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex on Wednesday to host King for a 3 p.m. first pitch against the Tornado. Fans can view the game with a paid subscription on FloSports with an audio stream available on cneagles.com/live.
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