VIDEO: Game Two Highlights

VIDEO: Tom Griffin Interview

VIDEO: Kolton Casson Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – For the third straight outing, freshman pitcher Kolton Casson tossed a complete game to seal a 4-2 win for #21 Carson-Newman (30-12, 18-6 SAC) in the series finale against #10/7 Lenoir-Rhyne (33-8, 17-7 SAC) Saturday afternoon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.

"I was really excited about how our hitters really battled with some two-strike, two-out hits," Carson-Newman head coach Tom Griffin said. "We had those yesterday and that continued into today, especially with different guys throughout the lineup. I thought we played well all week defensively. Kolton (Casson) was obviously really good. Him and Frankie (Delgado) were in a rocking chair. They got into a good rhythm. That was a great weekend series for us to win because that is a really good club in Lenoir-Rhyne."

The split of the doubleheader earns the Eagles their second series win over a top ten opponent this season. C-N entered the year winless in series with top ten teams and now has won two this season. Carson-Newman has four wins over top ten clubs this year, bringing its total to 15 in the Griffin era.

The win in the series finale is C-N's 30th of the year, the most wins since securing 31 victories during the 2019 season.

The Eagles have won the past three series over the Bears including back to back years by winning the opening game and the finale.

Game One: #7 Lenoir-Rhyne 8, #21 Carson-Newman 4

The Bears scored a pair of runs with two outs in the first inning. Eli Willen poked a single through the right side to score two runs.

Carson-Newman would answer in the bottom half of the second inning. After two runners reached with one out, Nicholas Castellana (Lancaster, N.Y) doubled to left to score a run. Next batter Braxton Smith (Cleveland, Tenn.) placed a down a sacrifice bunt to score a run from third to level the score at two, after two innings.

Both teams had opportunities to score in the third inning. The Bears loaded the bases with nobody out, but Jackson Underwood (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) got a strikeout and a double play to escape the third inning jam. Carson-Newman's half of the third inning also ended in a double play with runners on the corners with one out.

Over the next four innings, the theme for the LR offense was stranding runners on base. Carson-Newman pitching forced the Bears to strand multiple runners in three straight innings (5-7) to keep the game tied at two. The Eagles managed a baserunner during the five-inning scoreless stretch but never left more than one in an inning.

LR would break up the tie game in the eighth inning. After an error, Owen Blackledge doubled to left field to score a run from first and it was 3-2. A one-out RBI single extended the lead to two and then Eli Willen broke the game open. He launched a 2-1 pitch off the scoreboard to cap a six-run eighth inning for LR.

The Eagles would get two runs back in the bottom of the inning. Aiden Gibson (Cleveland, Tenn.) sent a two-run home run to straight away center field to make it 8-4.

C-N got a baserunner in the final half inning but nothing else to drop the first game of the day.

Brock Culpepper (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) suffered his first loss of the year in 2.2 innings on the mound, allowing two runs to score on three hits with three punch outs.

LR's William Girardi earned his seventh win of the year by going a season-long seven innings with six strikeouts.

Game Two: #21 Carson-Newman 4, #7 Lenoir-Rhyne 2

Per usual at this point, the series finale belonged to Kolton Casson (Benton, Tenn.). The right-hander recorded four strikeouts in his first two scoreless innings of work.

The Eagles had a great chance to score first in the bottom of the first. An error and a single led to runners at second and third with one out, but C-N went down swinging on strikes and left runners in scoring position.

Just when Casson was in a groove and an out away from a 1-2-3 third inning, Cole Laskowski had other ideas. The second baseman took the first pitch of his second at bat over the right center field wall to give LR the game's first run.

Carson-Newman answered back in the bottom of the fourth inning. A fielding error and back-to-back hit by pitches loaded the bases with one out for Frankie Delgado (Deltona, Fla.). The senior catcher drove an 0-2 pitch through the left side to tie the game at one. Next batter up Trey Miller (Rocky Point, NY) did a job with a sac fly to left center to put C-N in front.

After that third inning home run, Casson would settle in. He retired the next six hitters he faced and seven of the next eight to toss scoreless fourth and fifth innings.

C-N's offense gave him two extra runs of insurance in the fifth. With the bases loaded, Gibson singled up the middle to extend the lead and Seth Benner (Morganton, In) made it a 4-1 game with his RBI single that followed Gibson's.

Casson continued his impressive work on the bump, striking out two more Bears batters in the sixth inning and also got a successful pickoff by Delgado to put up a third straight zero in the sixth inning.

Lenoir-Rhyne's high-powered offense would not go down without a fight in the last half inning. Willen singled and scored on a two-out RBI single by Alex Khan to bring the tying run to the plate in Mackenzie Wainwright. The nation's leader in hits with more than 80, flew out to center field on a 3-2 pitch, as Casson finished off his third straight complete game performance and his sixth of the season.

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No. 21 Carson-Newman takes the series against No. 7 Lenoir-Rhyne!!!

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— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) April 12, 2025

Single-handily, the stud freshman pitcher held the third-highest scoring offense in DII to a season-low two runs on just six hits, second-fewest hits by LR in a game this season. Casson improves his record to 11-0 on the year

Casson struck out 12 LR batters, allowing just two earned runs and walked just two. It's his ninth straight start in which he has allowed two runs or less.

"It's all about trusting your guys and staying consistent in practice," Casson said. "You have to trust the pitch calling, your offense, the guys behind you and staying consistent in practice and with everything else I do on a daily basis."

Kolton Casson continues to make his way up Carson-Newman's record book. Since moving to DII in 1994, Casson's 11 wins this season are tied for the third-most in a single season in school history, while his six complete games tie him for second-most in the school's DII history.

Four different Eagles drove in a run in the finale, while Spencer Williams (Seymour, Tenn.) had the only multi-hit performance in the two-run win going three for three at the plate.

LR starting pitcher Kellen Gradisar suffered the loss in five innings of work. Only one of the four runs he allowed were earned, striking out seven C-N batters as well.

Carson-Newman is back in action on Wednesday afternoon in a road non-conference contest against King at 3:00 p.m.