WISE, V.A – Despite quality pitching performances, Carson-Newman (9-9, 4-4 SAC) dropped a pair of road contests to the UVA Wise Cavaliers on Saturday afternoon in Wise, Virginia.
"Amazing start and effort from Noah Pridmore in game one," Carson-Newman baseball coach Tom Griffin said. "The offense was stagnant and we struggled to put together quality at bats as a team. Credit to their pitcher he was good. Game two, Blake Cooper was good as well and did enough to put us in position to win but it was the same story with our offense. We need to get better defensively as well. I think Brandon Costa has done an excellent job with that team. They were prepared and played with a winning mindset. Some guys are going to get more opportunities at the plate because the offense isn't there right now."
The doubleheader loss ends C-N's 14-game winning streak against UVA Wise. Previously, the Cavs had just one win all-time against C-N.
C-N's starting pitchers combined to throw 12 1/3 innings over the doubleheader and only allowed four earned runs on seven hits.
Game One: UVA Wise 7, Carson-Newman 2
C-N wasted no time getting the first run of the game. Dalton McLain (Greeneville, Tenn.) slapped a double into the gap and James Denten (Mt. Prospect, Ill.) got him in with a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0.
After going down in order in the first, the Cavaliers answered on back-to-back pitches to start the second. A Cole Harness single was followed by a Justin Reed home run and Wise led 2-1 after two innings.
The Cavs extended their lead in the third with a RBI single and C-N trailed 3-1 after three innings.
Carson-Newman responded in the next half inning. Back-to-back base knocks from Denten and Harrison Travis (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) made it 3-2.
Despite allowing three runs early in the game, Noah Pridmore (Ooltewah, Tenn.) recovered well to blank Wise over the next four innings. The right-hander through 7 1/3 innings of three run ball and retired nine in a row at one point. It was the longest outing of Pridmore's career.
However, C-N's offense was unable to get anything across on Wise starter Justin Snider. After scoring two runs on four hits through the first four innings, the Eagles managed just two hits in the final five innings and only got three runners on base.
The Cavaliers got four insurance runs with two outs in the eighth inning. Justin Ruehling cleared the bases with a triple to right center and Weaver followed with a single to make it 7-2.
C-N went down in order in the ninth inning. Snider went seven innings and struck out six Eagle hitters.
Game Two: UVA Wise 5, Carson-Newman 3
The Cavaliers scored in the first inning without recording a hit. Nick Badgett led off the inning with a walk and Harness drove him in with a sacrifice fly after getting to third off an error.
After a one-out double in the second inning, UVA Wise took advantage of another C-N error and Hurst drove in Frye with a sac fly and it was 2-0 after two innings.
Carson-Newman punched back with a three-run third inning. A leadoff single from Aiden Gibson (Cleveland, Tenn.) and a walk put two runners in scoring position and Denten delivered. The senior sent his fourth home run of the season over the right field wall and the Eagles went ahead 3-2 after three innings.
Blake Cooper (Maryville, Tenn.) silenced the Wise bats in the middle innings. He retired eight batters in a row to keep the Eagles ahead after five frames.
The Eagles turned to the bullpen in the sixth inning with Grif Hughes (Knoxville, Tenn.) who struck out the first two batters of the frame but allowed two men to reach after. Down to just its final four outs, Frye delivered a hit that put UVA Wise ahead for good. He homered to left field to put the Cavs up 5-3 heading to the last inning.
C-N managed to get the tying run to the plate but fell short in a seventh inning rally.
Cooper reset his season-high for strikeouts with six in the one-hit start. The Maryville native allowed just six runners to reach base, two of which came via errors.
Denten finished the doubleheader with two hits and 4 RBI. Gibson had a team-high three hits between the two affairs.
The two teams will complete the three-game series on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Fans can watch the action with a subscription to FloSports.
