JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – In two completely different games, Carson-Newman (7-6, 2-1 SAC) recovered extremely well after a game one loss, holding Newberry (4-10, 1-5 SAC) scoreless and to just one hit in game two to win the series over the Wolves on Saturday at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
The Eagles improved their mark in SAC opening series' to 20-14 overall. Dating back to 2022, Carson-Newman has won its last eight home series at home.
It's the first time Carson-Newman has won a series against the Wolves since 2018, when the Eagles took two of three in Newberry, S.C.
"That second game came down to two guys Hunter Harritan and Grif Hughes," Carson-Newman head baseball coach Tom Griffin said. "Those two were outstanding. We extended Grif probably longer than we wanted to, but he did great. Him and Harritan were the guys we had to have step up. Nick Castellana I thought did a great job behind the dish this weekend
Game One: Newberry 16, Carson-Newman 11
Newberry wasted no time getting the scoring started. Rhett Jolly singled in a run to give the Wolves the 1-0 lead after the first inning.
The Eagles answered on Nicholas Castellana's (Lancaster, N.Y) first home run with C-N to level the game at one run apiece after two complete innings.
Newberry erupted for a huge third inning. Jolly was walked to score a run, followed by a Hunter French two-rbi single through the left side to make it 4-1. A bunt single loaded the bases and then three consecutive hit by pitches brought home three more Newberry runs to make it 7-1. The Wolves batted around before C-N finally got its first out of the inning on a Donovan Ford sacrifice fly. Kade Faircloth capped an 11 run third inning with a grand slam to left field.
C-N got two runs back on a James Denten two-run shot to center. Denten's second long ball of the season made it an 12-3 game after three innings.
Both pitching staffs settled in a little, as both sides failed to score in the middle innings. Two base hits and a hit by pitch loaded the bases for Will Gibbs who singled down the right field line to plate a run. Next batter Dalton McLain hit a ball deep to center for a sacrifice fly to make it 12-5. The Eagles continued to rally in the 7th, as Denten and Harrison Travis (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) recorded RBI base hits to complete a four-run inning.
The Wolves got all four of those runs back in the top of the eighth inning. Three of Newberry's four hits scored runs to increase the lead back to 12-7.
Carson-Newman's offense continued to try and rally in the 9th inning. Luke Goforth (Blacksburg, Va.), Aiden Gibson (Cleveland, Tenn.) Gibbs and Travis all drove in a run for C-N in the inning.
Ethan Lebron recorded a quality start to get his second win of the season. He struck out five batters and walked just one.
Game Two: Carson-Newman 2, Newberry 0
Grif Hughes (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Hunter Harritan (Huntersville, N.C.) were tired of seeing the Wolves pile up runs in game one and the duo completed flipped the script for Carson-Newman in game two.
Hughes got the start and worked himself out of a first inning jam. An error and a hit by pitch put two runners aboard with one out and the lefty forced a pop up and struck out Jesse Free to end the threat.
The offense did its part in the bottom of the frame. A leadoff walk followed by a Spencer Williams single put runners on the corners with no one out. Denten put the ball in play, grounding out to second base to score McLain from third and give the Eagles a 1-0 lead. After a fielding error allowed Williams to move to third, Castellana drove him in with a sacrifice fly to center and C-N jumped out to a two-run lead early.
Those two runs turned out to be all C-N needed with the way Hughes was pitching. The senior struck out the side in the second and two more in the third inning. From the last out of the first inning, to the first out of the third inning, Hughes punched out five Wolves hitters in a row.
Newberry managed its first and only hit of the contest on a Jesse Free single up the middle, but another strikeout kept the Wolves scoreless.
After a hit by pitch and a walk put runners on the corners, Harritan came in to record the final out of the fifth inning, getting Faircloth to ground out to second base.
The Wolves got a runner on base to start the sixth inning on an error. Harritan clamped down and stranded the runner at third after striking out Gibson to end the frame.
Newberry got the tying run to the plate in the seventh inning, but Harritan closed the game out with back to back strikeouts capping impressive work on the mound.
The pitching duo combined to limit the Wolves to just one hit, while striking out ten batters in the game as well. Hughes had seven of the punchouts, a new career-high for the left-hander.
"That's a tough group to strikeout," Griffin said. "They put balls in play and have a great approach offensively. You have to pitch differently sometimes in the counts and Grif was able to do that. Hunter's fastball was exploding and he was locating better than he has in the past. You have to be in the zone against those guys to get the strikeouts that they got. You have to be able to make big pitches in big situations. Today, those two were able to do that and that's why we were able to get the victory."
Harritan recorded his first save of the season, while Hughes improved his record to 3-1. The duo combined for Carson-Newman's first shutout in a SAC game since 2021.
"Hunter is a psychopath," Hughes said. "I love him, he is awesome. We've known for a long time that he is really really good. My mindset was to go until coach said to stop. I knew when Hunter got the ball they had no chance and we saw that today."
Between the two games, Denten drove in four runs for C-N and had three hits. Gibson had a team-high four hits while Castellana and Travis each drove in two runs.
Hunter French took the loss in game two, going all six innings allowing five hits and two runs. Four different Newberry hitters had three or more hits in the doubleheader.
Carson-Newman's midweek contest against Milligan originally scheduled for Tuesday has been cancalled. C-N retakes the field for a weekend conference series against Tusculum. The series starts Friday Mar. 1 at 2:00 p.m. and concludes Saturday with a doubleheader starting at noon. All three contests will air on the Eagle Sports Network with video available on FloSports with a paid subscription and an audio-only stream on cneagles.com/live.
