VIDEO: Ryan Higgins and Jackson Underwood Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (9-0, 2-0 SAC) is off to its best start in the program's modern history.
The Eagles swept Emory & Henry (1-7, 0-2 SAC) in a Friday afternoon doubleheader at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex to improve to 9-0 this season.
"We're competing against the baseball and ourselves, and at the end of it you see how you did," Carson-Newman Baseball head coach Tom Griffin said. "We really want to maintain the mindset of one pitch at a time and just be the best version of ourselves because that's what we control."
C-N has now won eight of its last 12 conference openers. Winning both games on the day, C-N has now won its first conference series each of the past three seasons.
Game One: Carson-Newman 7, Emory & Henry 0
It was a true pitcher's duel through the first seven innings in game one of the doubleheader.
Ryan Higgins (Spotsylvania, Va.) continued his special start to the year, tossing seven scoreless and hitless innings that included taking a perfect game into the seventh inning.
Higgins was in a groove from the second he stepped on the mound. He recorded seven ground ball outs and two strikeouts and was perfect through the first three innings of the contest.
C-N got base hits in the first and second innings but stranded runners on base in those frames.
Good baserunning from Trey Miller (Rocky Point, N.Y.) helped the Eagles score first in the bottom of the third inning. He was hit by an 0-2 pitch and preceded to steal second and third base with Ryan Jenkins (Winter Haven, Fla.) still batting. On a 3-2 offering, Jenkins lifted a fly ball to right field that was deep enough to score Miller for a sacrifice fly and it was C-N by one run after three innings.
Both starting pitchers faced the minimum in the fourth and fifth innings. Higgins started both frames with strikeouts and was perfect through five innings.
12 UP and 12 DOWN
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) February 14, 2025
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C-N's sophomore starter kept his perfect game intact through the sixth inning and recorded his fifth strikeout in the inning.
The perfect game bid came to a halt at the start of the seventh inning after a leadoff walk. Higgins had to navigate some trouble in the inning. After a one-out hit batter, two runners moved into scoring position with one out. Higgins bared down and got the cleanup hitter Jacob Bebber to strike out and the five-hitter Caeden Howell to ground out to strand the runners in scoring position.
"The defense played great all day," Higgins said. "[Coach Griffin told me] take a minute, don't worry about the situation, just get the batter, and that's what I did. Got the last two outs for my guys, and I was just happy to do it for them."
JAM = ESCAPED
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) February 14, 2025
Wasps had two runners in scoring position with one out
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The Eagles would get insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Miller and Jenkins started the inning with back-to-back doubles to make it 2-0 C-N. Cole Nathan (Knoxville, Tenn.) would break the game open with two outs and the bases loaded. The sophomore infielder roped a fly ball down the left field line for a bases-clearing triple to make it 5-0. Aiden Gibson (Cleveland, Tenn.) and Miller would plate one run each with RBI singles up the middle to cap a six-run eighth inning.
E&H broke up Carson-Newman's combined no-hit bid with a leadoff single from Jaret Hoppes. Jackson Underwood (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) recovered getting a double play ball and a fly out to complete C-N's second shutout of the season.
Underwood tossed the final two scoreless innings of the game to record his first career save. Higgins struck out six E&H batters to record his third win in three starts this season.
"When Ryan [Higgins] pitches like he does, he's going to be really hard to beat," Underwood said. "We got some different stuff. We throw the same pitches, but giving them a different look and [shutting out E&H] is great for my confidence."
Offensively, four different Eagles had multi-hit efforts in the team's ten-hit performance. Gibson, Jenkins, Kilgore, and Miller all had two hits each.
E&H's Jacob Nester went 7.2 innings allowing five runs and striking out two batters in a losing effort.
Game Two: Carson-Newman 6, Emory & Henry 1
As it has often done early this season, C-N jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the 1st inning. Jenkins doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Spencer Williams (Seymour, Tenn.) drove him in by legging out an RBI double. Two batters later, Tanner Kilgore (Kingsport, Tenn.) bounced a ball up the middle for a base knock to plate Williams in the opening inning.
The Wasps would score their first and only run of the day in the 2nd inning. Jacob Bebber led off the inning with a double and scored off a wild pitch to make it 2-1.
The Eagles extended their lead in the third inning. Nicholas Castellana (Lancaster, N.Y.) poked a two-out triple into the right-center field gap and would score on a wild pitch. Next batter, Seth Benner (Morgantown, Ind.) launched a 2-2 fastball over the left field wall for his first home run with Carson-Newman. The Eagles led by three runs after four innings.
FIRST HOME RUN for @SethBenner28 ‼️
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) February 14, 2025
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"I got into a 2-2 count, two-strike count I was looking to just make contact," Benner said. "I saw a slider up, swung at it, and it went over the fence. I was looking for that pitch, and it's what I got."
C-N starter Kolton Casson (Benton, Tenn.) faced the minimum in the third and fourth innings, striking out five E&H hitters in those two frames.
Floyd and Benner helped extend the lead to 6-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning. Floyd doubled in his first run of the game and Benner singled for his second RBI of the game.
Casson allowed base hits in both the fifth and sixth innings but worked his way through it to pitch his fourth straight scoreless inning. The freshman right-hander tossed a career-high six innings, allowing just one earned run on three hits. He punched out seven batters and just like Higgins, has won all three of his starts this season.
Xavier Hart (Sellersburg, Ind.) pitched a scoreless seventh inning and had a pair of strikeouts.
Benner and Williams each had two-hit days in game two, with Benner driving in two runs.
Emory & Henry's Drew Lanzo took the loss in game two, completing 2.2 innings and allowing four runs on six hits.
Carson-Newman and Emory & Henry are scheduled to close the three-game series on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. The game 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.
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