VIDEO: Tom Griffin Interview

VIDEO: Tanner Kilgore Interview

ROME, Ga. – Carson-Newman snapped a losing streak on Tuesdays with an 18-2 run-rule defeat of Shorter (2-1) on Tuesday afternoon at the Robert H Ledbetter Baseball Complex.

The Tuesday midweek victory snaps a 13-game losing streak for C-N in Tuesday affairs. The dominant victory also snaps an eight-game losing streak to Shorter.

C-N's 18 run output matches the most runs in a road game since scoring 18 in a win against Limestone on February 2nd, 2020. The 16-run victory is the largest margin of victory since an 18-1 win also against Limestone on March 29th, 2016.

"There was a lot to like," Carson-Newman head coach Tom Griffin said. "We had a good start, like we did against King. I thought our at bats were better as far as our pitch selection goes. Our approaches were much better and there was much more confidence with the guys. Guys came up with big hits today, Tanner Kilgore in the middle of the lineup and then Trey Miller at the bottom. That's a good performance on the road because we have not done well on Tuesdays."

There were several key contributors in C-N's 17 hit effort. Tanner Kilgore (Kingsport, Tenn.) entered his sophomore season with one career home run. He finished this game with two home runs in his first three at bats, driving in a career-high and team-high five runs. Trey Miller (Rocky Point, N.Y) was terrific out of the nine spot in the batting order. The centerfielder finished with a career-high four hits while driving in a career-high four runs. Nicholas Castellana, Cole Nathan and Braxton Smith all finished with two-hit days at the plate as well.

Every single starter in the batting order finished with a base hit and scored a run. It's the first time since the 2023 season opener that both of those things occurred in the same game.

Carson-Newman did all its damage in the first inning with two outs, recording five consecutive hits. After a two-out single from Logan Floyd (Adairsville, Ga.), Tanner Kilgore crushed a breaking ball over the left field wall to give C-N a 2-0 lead.

BYE BYE BASEBALLLLL

Two-out homer from @TannerKilgore2 ‼️

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Top 1st

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— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) February 4, 2025

The Eagles wouldn't stop there. Cole Nathan (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Julian Hines (Glendora, Ca) both recorded back-to-back RBI base hits to cap a four-run top of the first.

Shorter would score for the first time in the bottom of the second inning. Micah Shipman singled to left field with two outs to make it 4-1 after two innings.

The Hawks got another run back in the third as Griffin Clark singled in a run. C-N starter Christian Henderson (Clarksville, Tenn.) limited the damage by recording back-to-back outs with runners on base to keep C-N ahead 4-2 after three innings.

Carson-Newman wasted no time extending the lead back out. On the first pitch of the top of the fourth, Trey Miller (Rocky Point, N.Y) crushed a pitch over the left field wall for his first home run of the season and it was 5-2 C-N. Two more runners reached in the inning and Kilgore stayed hot at the plate. On a 1-1 pitch, the sophomore cleared the left field wall with a three-run shot for his second dinger of the day to open up an 8-2 lead.

TWO HOMER DAY FOR @TannerKilgore2

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Top 4th

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— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) February 4, 2025

The Eagles continued to pad onto the lead in the sixth inning. Castellana and Nathan each started the inning with base hits, with Castellana scoring on a bases-loaded walk to make it 9-2. Miller drove in his second run of the day with a RBI single to left field that kept the bases loaded. C-N's next three runs would be scored via fielder's choices to cap a five-run sixth inning to push the lead out to 13-2.

C-N loaded the bases again in the seventh inning to increase the margin. Miller doubled to right field to drive in two more runs with a third scoring off an error and it was 16-2.

Andrew Bench (Fonthill, ON) relieved Henderson in the fourth and retired nine consecutive batters to put three zeros on the board while C-N scored 12 unanswered runs.

The Eagles would go on to score the game's final 14 runs to run-rule the Hawks in seven innings. Colby Phillips (Baxter, Tenn.) pitched a scoreless seventh inning to finish off the win.

Henderson recorded his first career win in his first career start, tossing three innings of two-run baseball with one strikeout.

Shorter's Cole McDaniel was the losing pitcher, allowing four runs on five hits in his only inning of work.

Carson-Newman is back in action at home on Friday for a doubleheader with Charleston (W.V), and then will play Trevecca Nazarene on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. First pitch for the doubleheader on Friday is set for 12:00 p.m. from the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex. All games will air with a video stream available on FloSports with a subscription. There will also be a free audio stream available courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network on cneagles.com/live.