VIDEO: Noah Pridmore and Spencer Bright Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – For the seventh time this season, Carson-Newman (18-16, 11-8 SAC) won a series opener, doing so this time behind a complete game shutout from Noah Pridmore as the Eagles run-ruled Anderson (17-17, 7-12 SAC) 10-0 Friday afternoon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
Pridmore threw seven shutout innings of three-hit baseball to record a complete-game shutout, the program's first since Matt Bradley did the same against #21 Lenoir-Rhyne on April 15, 2022. The last complete-game shutout from a starter came from Brayden Coe, one week after Bradley's in 2022. That effort was nine innings in the SAC Tournament.
"Today was all about Noah Pridmore and Spencer Bright," Carson-Newman head baseball coach Tom Griffin said. "Those two have worked with each other for quite a few years and know each other very well. That today was a really good matchup between those two guys. We took advantage of some freebies with big hits, it was one of those games for us. Tomorrow is a whole other day. In this league, anybody can win at any given time. Today was good for us. We haven't had very many games like that."
The shutout effort is C-N's second shutout this season, both in league play. Pridmore's shutout is the fifth start in his career in which he has allowed zero earned runs. It's just the second time that no runs have been scored on the right-hander, this being his first career complete game shutout.
"Spencer and I talked about mixing pitches well and being in the zone," Pridmore said. "It's not a team in Anderson that strikes out very much, so you have to make themselves get out. We made some big defensive plays in that game. Credit to Spencer to, him and I have really good chemistry together. Anything that he throws down I trust it and I can throw well."
Carson-Newman improves its record in series openers to 7-2 and has now won four of its last five league games.
Carson-Newman got back-to-back doubles to start the bottom of the first inning and turned those extra base hits into runs. James Denten lined out to left field to score Williams and C-N led 1-0. Two batters later, Logan Floyd (Adairsville, Ga.) hit into a fielder's choice to score McLain from third base and it 2-0 Eagles after one inning.
Anderson starting pitcher Ben Thornton threw eight straight balls to start the second inning and C-N made them him pay. McLain drove in a run on a sacrifice fly to left field to make it 3-0. With Thornton struggling to find the zone, Denten worked a hitter's count and made the right-hander pay, as he crushed a three-run shot over the right center field for his eighth home run of the year and C-N made a statement leading 7-0 after two innings.
Heads up base-running from Ryan Potts (Dandridge, Tenn.) made it 7-0 after three innings. The senior got a great job on an 0-2 pitch and stole third base. The next offering was a wild pitch that allowed Potts to score.
After a 1-2-3 top of the fifth inning, C-N increased the lead in the bottom half. Floyd walked and moved to second with two outs. Aiden Gibson (Cleveland, Tenn.) drove in his eighth run of the year on a laser back up the middle to make it 8-0 after five.
Pridmore sent down 12 in a row over the final four innings, ten of which came in a row after a double play in the fourth inning.
His pitching set C-N up with an opportunity to run-rule Anderson in the bottom of the seventh and the Eagles did just that. Pinch hitter Will Gibbs (Harrisburg, Ill.) singled to start the frame and moved to third after a Harrison Travis (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) double down the left field line. Floyd followed by hitting a sac fly to right field which scored a run. Pinch runner Gage Swanson was attempting to move from second to third on the play and a bad throw from the AU catcher ended up in the outfield allowing Swanson to score and end the game.
The Eagles win it 10-0 after a SAC fly from Logan Floyd!
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) April 5, 2024
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⚔ @AUTrojansbsbl 0
FINAL pic.twitter.com/RHaxhQdWYG
Williams had Carson-Newman's lone multi-hit effort with a single and a double. Seven other Eagles had a base hit as well.
Denten drove in four runs to lead the way while Floyd drove in two as well.
AU's Ben Thornton took the loss throwing two innings, allowing six runs on four hits while walking three.
The series continues and wraps tomorrow 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.
