NEWBERRY, S.C. – Carson-Newman (10-2, 3-1 SAC) found itself on the losing side of a low-scoring series opener with Newberry (10-3, 3-1 SAC), falling 2-1 on Friday evening at the Smith Road Complex.
"It was a great pitching duel," Carson-Newman head coach Tom Griffin said. "We obviously know Lebron really well, he is a great competitor and locates well. You know what you are going to get with Newberry, they aren't going to hurt themselves, they put balls in play, put pressure on you and pitch it well. I thought we matched that with (Ryan) Higgins. It wasn't his best outing. but he got us out of some innings there. Too many mistakes today and it's a game of inches. I was happy the way the guys responded being down early."
Four of the last five regular season meetings between Carson-Newman and Newberry have been decided by three runs or less. The Eagles entered the game having won their last five one-run contests.
Castellana delivered C-N's first base hit of the game in the second inning. He later was caught stealing and C-N came up empty after getting its first baserunner.
Ryan Higgins (Spotslyvania, Va) pitched well early for the Eagles. Despite allowing a pair of runners with two outs in the first, he managed to post a zero and sent the Wolves down 1-2-3 in the second inning.
Newberry loaded the bases against Higgins in the third. A fielding error was compounded by two singles and the Wolves were in business with one out. Wilson Wages hit into fielder's choice, with C-N getting an out at second base, and went home for the double play. But a run scored on the play and Newberry led 1-0 after three innings. That run scored is the first run to score on Higgins this season, all be it unearned.
The Wolves tacked another run on in the fourth frame. Two runners were on with one out and Luke White hit into a fielder's choice to make it 2-0 Newberry. That was the first earned run to score on Higgins this season.
Carson-Newman's best chance to score was in the fifth. With one-out, the Eagles got back-to-back singles from Ryan Bolton (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Cole Nathan (Knoxville, Tenn.). The Wolves picked Nathan off of second though for the second out. After the pickoff, Newberry starter Ethan Lebron threw eight straight balls and loaded the bases, but C-N left them loaded.
Newberry threatened to extend the advantage in the sixth inning. The Wolves loaded the bases with one out, but relief pitcher Andrew Bench came in and recorded back-to-back punchouts to keep C-N within striking distance.
A perfectly placed bunt allowed Aiden Gibson (Cleveland, Tenn.) to reach base to start the seventh. The Eagles bunted him into scoring position and Trey Miller (Rocky Point, N.Y) drove him in with an RBI single up the middle on a 3-2 pitch and C-N trailed by just one after six and a half frames.
C-N managed to get just one baserunner in the final two innings.
Six different Eagles recorded hits, with Miller driving in the lone run.
Ethan Faircloth was Newberry's top hitter, going three for four at the plate. Hitters 2-5 in the Wolves' batting order had all seven of their hits.
Newberry's Ethan Lebron was the winning pitcher, going 6.2 allowing six hits and one run and struck out three. John Rollins got the final seven outs of the game and only allowed one baserunner to get the save.
Higgins suffered his first loss of the season, going 5.1 innings with five hits and one earned run allowed. Andrew Bench (Fonthill, ON) and Jackson Underwood (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) got the final eight outs of the game, with Bench recording a pair of punchouts.
The series concludes tomorrow afternoon with a doubleheader starting at 1:00 p.m. from the Smith Road Complex. There will be a free audio stream available courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network on cneagles.com/live.
