BRISTOL, Tenn. – Scoring a run in the opening inning, Carson-Newman led from start to finish to win a third game in a row beating King 6-3 on Wednesday at King Baseball Field.
"Spencer Williams played really well today," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "He had good at bats and made plays defensively. Quite honestly it was kind of sloppy. We didn't play to the standards that we want to hold ourselves to. We reminded them that we need to understand there are no days off. It shouldn't change based off what day it is or who you are playing."
The Eagles have won four straight against the Tornado and six of the last seven. Four Carson-Newman (23-19) pitchers tossed two innings allowing seven hits and one walk in the game. King (12-28) drops a seventh straight matchup overall for the year.
Despite falling behind 1-2, Spencer Williams (Seymour, Tenn.) kickstarted the offense with a lead-off single through the middle to start the game. He moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, stole third base and scored on a ground out to second to put the Eagles ahead 1-0.
Carson-Newman tacked on two more runs to the lead in the top of the third with James Denten (Mt. Prospect, Ill.) doubling to center field and Mitchell Balint (Avondale, Pa.) dumping a base hit to left to plate the runs.
Two of the first three Tornado hitters reached to open the bottom of the fourth advancing a bag on a wild pitch. Mason Swartz singled to center field plating a run and the second man came in on a bobble to cut the deficit to a run at 3-2.
Williams knocked in a run with a ground out in the top of the sixth to get the lead back to two runs at 4-2.
With a runner at second base and two outs, Chase Hilliard split the gap in right-center field to slice the margin in half at 4-3 but was thrown out at third base trying to stretch a double into a triple.
Leading off the top of the eighth inning, Sam Astern (Wellington, Fla.) pummeled the first pitch he saw over the wall in left field notching the second hit of his career and first long ball. Another ground out by Williams expanded the lead to 6-3.
Williams filled up the stat sheet with a 2-for-5 day driving in two runs and scoring twice. Denten added a 3-for-5 line with two RBIs as the road crew racked up nine hits.
Grif Hughes (Knoxville, Tenn.) posted his second save of the year tossing the final two frames giving up one base runner in scoreless stanzas.
Preston Steele finished with three of King's seven hits scoring two of the club's three runs. Four other players tallied pokes with Davis Hall reaching base twice.
Carson Sanner allowed three runs, two earned on five hits over four innings as each of the first three pitchers of the day surrendered a run.
The Eagles wrap up the regular season with a road trip to Coker for a three-game series in the Palmetto State starting on Friday at 6 p.m.
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