JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Playing in its final two regular season games, Carson-Newman (23-24, 16-14 SAC) dropped a pair of close games to Coker (31-19, 20-10 SAC) on Saturday afternoon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
Prior to the doubleheader, Carson-Newman honored 17 seniors, Bryson Almany, Sam Astern, Spencer Bright, James Denten, Will Gibbs, Hunter Harritan, Grif Hughes, JJ Johnson, Dalton McLain, Jacob Overbeck, Ethan Patch, Ryan Potts, Noah Pridmore, Nolan Rogers, Gage Swanson, Harrison Travis and Jake Wright.
"All 17 seniors have made an impact into the program," Carson-Newman head coach Tom Griffin said. "We recognize those that have played and their accolades and statistics, but there are a lot of game that did not get as much playing time who have had a huge impact into our program just as much. It's all about representing our maker, the alumni, the baseball alumni, the university and its about representing the community of Jefferson City. These guys have done a tremendous job of that. The weekend was disappointing, but again that is because (Coach) Fico did a better job of preparing his guys."
Coker's sweep of Carson-Newman this weekend is the first time since 2022 the Eagles have been swept at home.
Logan Floyd (Adairsville, Ga.) continued his stellar hitting at the plate, recording five more hits between the two games to finish with eight for the weekend.
Game One: Coker 8, Carson-Newman 4
It was Coker scoring three times to start the first inning. A bunt single and a throwing error allowed Jaylen Mack to score from second. Another error and a groundout scored two more runs in the first inning.
After stranding the bases loaded in the first inning, C-N responded well in the second. Back to back leadoff hits from Ryan Potts (Dandridge, Tenn.) and Trey Miller (Rocky Point, N.Y.) plated C-N's first run of the day.
C-N managed to tie the game in the third inning thanks to quality two-out hitting. Will Gibbs and Logan Floyd reached base with two outs and Potts drove them in with his second double of the day to level the score at 3.
Coker's Luke Alford answered right back by hitting his second home run over the right field wall to put Coker back in front.
The Cobras lead extended by two more runs thanks to two-out hitting from Donovan Frayer.
Carson-Newman manufactured a run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Spencer Williams (Seymour, Tenn.) placed down a sacrifice bunt to score Miller to bring the Eagles back within a run.
Bransen Angel (Lutz, Fla.) threw back to back scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth innings keep C-N within striking distance. The Eagles managed just one baserunner in those two frames.
Coker took advantage of more C-N miscues in the ninth. With runners at second and third and no one out, a throwing error to first allowed a run to score to make it a three-run game. A muffed pickoff attempt at first allowed a second run in the inning to score and it was 8-4.
Floyd recorded his third hit of the day on a single to right field but was thrown out trying to extend his hit to extra bases to end the game.
Cody Chapman pitched five innings of three-run baseball to win his third game of the season. Garrett Dunn threw the final four innings and limited C-N to just one run for his first save of the season.
Ryan Higgins (Spotsylvania, V.A.) suffered his third loss of the year in 3 2/3 innings of work.
Game Two: Coker 5, Carson-Newman 2
Will Gibbs walked and stole second base to start the bottom of the first and moved to third on a groundout. The Eagles tried to get him home on a fly ball to right by Donavan Frayer gunned down Gibbs who was charging for home for a 9-2 putout at the plate to keep the game scoreless after one inning.
Floyd led off the second frame with a double into the gap but was stranded there as the next three hitters were retired.
Coker started the scoring in the top of the third inning. Jaylen Mack ripped a two-run single into left center field to start the scoring. Cameron Ferrell followed with a single up the middle to cap the three-run third inning.
C-N got on the board when Floyd traded places with Tanner Kilgore with a double to left to make it a two-run ball game in the fourth inning. Potts would draw a walk, but C-N was unable to execute the first and second no one out situation and was held to just the one run in the frame.
Coker would add on more runs in the fifth inning. Hunter Poole doubled in a run and then two batters later stole home on a double steal and it was 5-1 after five innings.
Carson-Newman would attempt to rally in the seventh inning, getting Potts aboard to start the frame on his third double of the day. Cole Nathan (Knoxville, Tenn.) singled him over to third with two outs. Pinch hitting, Nicholas Castellana (Lancaster, N.Y.) followed with a single to right center to make it a three-run game and bring the tying run to the plate. The rally effort would end there.
Grif Hughes (Knoxville, Tenn.) took the loss in four innings of work, allowing three runs and six hits.
Collin Breland went 6 2/3 innings for his second win while only striking out one batter. Tyler Satterly came into the game to record the final out for his fourth save of the season.
The Eagles matched Coker for hits in the series finale and out hit the Cobras between both games.
Carson-Newman now turns its attention to the South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament which will begin next Friday, May 3rd. The Eagles will be the number seven seed and travel to take on the number two seed at Coker. The contests will have an audio-only stream available at cneagles.com/live.
