VIDEO: Game Two Highlights

VIDEO: Tom Griffin Interview

VIDEO: Kolton Casson and Nicholas Castellana Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – For the first time in program history, No. 25 Carson-Newman (16-5) has won a series versus a top ten foe. The Eagles split a Saturday doubleheader with No. 6 Florida Southern (16-4) by winning the rubber match 3-1 on Saturday afternoon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.

Entering the weekend, Carson-Newman was 0-9-4 in series' versus top ten clubs. The highest ranked club the program had won was against No. 14 Northwood, winning two out of three in 2018. The Eagles now have their first series win over a top ten team, beating FSC 3-1 in the rubber match of the series Saturday.

"Yesterday showed a lot when we talk about resiliency and overcoming setbacks," Carson-Newman baseball coach Tom Griffin said. "They scored a bunch there in the first game, but I told our guys you can't worry about score, just keep playing the game. I thought our guys did that, knowing that we had another game to play. The second game was going to come to pitching and defense and we were certainly fortunate to have that."

Carson-Newman entered the weekend with one win in the all-time series with Florida Southern. The Eagles end the weekend with two more victories and become the first team to win a series over the sixth-rated Mocs this season.

Game One: Florida Southern 16, Carson-Newman 5

The Mocs offense was ready to hit in first game of the doubleheader. A RBI groundout followed by a two-out RBI double put FSC up 2-0 in the 1st inning.

Carson-Newman allowed its opponent to score four runs or more in any inning for the first time this season, as the Mocs scored six runs in the second inning and five runs in the third.

FSC scored two of its six runs in the second with two outs. Grant Thoroman was the highlight of the frame with his two-run home run to extend the lead to 8-0 after a seven-hit second inning.

After the Eagles went down in order in the bottom half, FSC continued its offensive surge into the third inning. After hits from the first two batters, Mikey Scott cleared the bases with a three-run home run to make it 11-0. A sac fly and a two-out infield single made the score 13-0 after two and a half innings.

C-N was able to answer in the bottom of the third. Aiden Gibson (Cleveland, Tenn.) and Cole Nathan (Knoxville, Tenn.) started the frame with back to back singles. Gibson scored on Trey Miller's (Rocky Point, N.Y.) double to center field for C-N's first run of the game. A wild pitch and a Tanner Kilgore (Kingsport, Tenn.) single brought home two more runs in the frame.

Neither team scored during the middle innings of game one. Evan Celuch and Braxton Roberts combined to pitch scoreless 4-7 innings, allowing just four hits and recording five strikeouts.

A wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh scored Ryan Jenkins (Winter Haven, Fla.) from third base to bring the score to 13-5 after seven frames.

The Mocs would put the game in run-rule territory with a three-run eighth inning thanks to a Wyatt Campbell two-run home run to left field. The Eagles stranded two runners in scoring position in the bottom half, suffering a 16-5 loss in game one.

Bransen Angel (Lutz, Fla.) suffered his first loss of the season, going 1.2 innings allowing seven runs on six hits.

FSC starting pitcher Brandon Jung had a quality start to earn his third win of 2025. Grant Thoroman had a five-hit performance in game one.

Game Two: Carson-Newman 3, Florida Southern 1

As he has done so often to start his collegiate career, Kolton Casson (Benton, Tenn.) was spectacular to hold down FSC's lineup.

After an early defensive mistake, his catcher Nicholas Castellana (Lancaster, N.Y) caught Scott stealing and then Casson followed with a strikeout to face the minimum in the 1st.

Casson saw FSC get its first hit to start the second, but retired the next three batters and the two teams were scoreless after two innings.

The Eagles broke through in the bottom of the third inning. Ryan Bolton (Knoxville, Tenn.) singled and later moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Moving the runner to second was critical, as Jenkins followed with a RBI single to center field to start the game two scoring.

At one point through innings 2-4, Casson retired seven straight FSC hitters. His catcher gave him some much-needed cushion. After a leadoff single from Kilgore, Castellana drove the first pitch over the right center field wall for his first home run of the year to put the Eagles ahead 3-0.

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— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) March 8, 2025

For Castellana, it was his fourth home run of his Carson-Newman career.

"The whole series I really wasn't swinging it well," Castellana said. "I started talking to some of the guys on the team like Luke Goforth, Colton Evans and Seth Benner and they just said to stay in it and come up with a big hit. Sure enough, I did. I thanked those guys for keeping me in the game and it all goes back to relying on your teammates."

C-N's right-hander struck out two more batters in the fifth and at just 55 pitches tossed five scoreless innings.

The rookie needed to navigate some trouble in the sixth inning. He got back-to-back groundouts after a leadoff single, but FSC made him work for the final week. Noah Rabin worked a six-pitch walk and Rosean Riley singled to left to give the Mocs their first but only run of game two. Casson battled and forced the go-ahead run at the plate to hit into a fielder's choice, limiting the damage.

Calm as could be, Casson went 1-2-3 in the final inning to finish off his second seven-inning complete game effort of the season.

In six career starts, Casson improves his record to a perfect 6-0. In his complete game effort, he allowed just five hits with one run, walked only one batter and recorded seven strikeouts. He has seven or more strikeouts in four of his first six career starts.

"First of all, he is a very good athlete," Griffin said. "Number two, he has a really strong arm, but I think it is his presence. I don't think he ever gets too high or too low, you see that in his demeanor out there. Big situations aren't a big deal to him. That is a great trait to have in this game, because it is a game of failure with ups and downs."

Castellana had the big hit for C-N, but six others made impacts at the plate led by Kilgore's two-hit performance in game two. All but two hitters recorded a base hit for Carson-Newman in the game two win.

Rosean Riley had FSC's only RBI of game two. Jordan Fox was the losing pitcher, going three innings and allowing seven hits with just one strikeout.

Carson-Newman stays home as it plays host to Lee on Tuesday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. from the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex. A video stream is available on FloSports with a subscription. A free audio stream will also be available courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network on cneagles.com/live.