GREENWOOD, S.C. – Carson-Newman (17-3) notched two massive run-rule wins over top-flight Southeast Region competition Saturday.
The Eagles throttled Emmanuel (14-5) 13-4 in five innings to start the day before handing Lander (15-2) its second loss of the season with an 11-2 decision in six innings after sunset at Doug Spears Field.
Carson-Newman wraps up its weekend at the Bearcat/Fleet Invitational 4-0. Carson-Newman has won seven straight games.
"That is two really good teams that we run-ruled today," Carson-Newman head softball coach Michael Graves said. "We hit the ball well, we ran the bases well, we played great defense, and for the most part we pitched really well. When this team is clicking on all cylinders the sky is the limit."
The Eagles pounded out 24 hits and scored 24 runs between the two games.
Hayden Dye (Powell, Tenn.) and Macey Hughes (Corryton, Tenn.) were the headliners offensively. Both players slugged two home runs. Dye was 5-of-6 at the plate with five driven in and five runs scored. Hughes went 3-of-5 with a double, the two dingers and eight RBI.
Natalie Corbin (Tybee Island, Ga.) broke loose with a 5-of-6 day at the plate.
SieAnna Cameron (Alcoa, Tenn.) rode her hitting streak to 16 straight games. She has tied Shannon Smith and assistant coach Kristen Toppel for the fifth-longest streak in school history.
Two more games and she'll tie Abby Fiessinger's 18-game streak that started her career. Kelli Hensley has the third longest at 19 while Angel Bales (25) and Sammi Hatcher (33) sit atop that leaderboard.
Carson-Newman played error-free defensively for a seventh and eighth consecutive game while contending with a Lander team that was second in the country in sacrifice bunts and fourth in steals. The Bearcats did not steal a bag on the day.
"I think we have played a tough early season schedule and we still have a pretty good record," Graves said. "We wanted to make sure that we were the faster and more aggressive team against Lander. We wanted to set the tempo and make them chase us. I think our pitching, defense and catchers did a great job minimizing their speed."
Lander's only other loss on the year was to No. 13 Tampa to start the season, 1-0. The Eagles snapped the Bearcats 15-game winning streak.
GAME ONE: Carson-Newman 13, Emmanuel 4 (five innings)
Carson-Newman got on the board in a hurry thanks to Hughes. Back-to-back singles for Corbin and Leah Sohm (Knoxville, Tenn.) set the table for the sophomore, who slammed a 3-1 pitch over the fence center field.
The Lions countered in the top of the second with a three-run frame of their own. A single and a one-out walk brought up Gracie Buffington, who slashed a double to left center to bring one in.
A two-out single brought in two runs off the bat of Briana Harder to tie things up at three apiece.
However, Hughes once again delivered. A bunt single from Emily Harris (Cumming, Ga.) and a knock through the right sided from Hayden Dye brought up Hughes, who parked her seventh home run of the year beyond the fence in left center to put C-N back up by three runs in the bottom of the third.
Emmanuel scraped across another run in the fourth on a Harder single up the middle.
Then the merry-go-round got stuck on go for C-N in the fourth.
Carson-Newman scored seven runs off five hits and was aided by two errors in the inning.
Sohm started the scoring with an RBI fielder's choice in an inning where six different players drove in a run. Dye followed suit with an RBI single down the left field line. The game got into run-rule territory when a pinch-running Mari Robbins (Sweetwater, Tenn.) scored on an error at short.
Corbin capped the seven-run inning with an RBI single poked opposite way to left.
Sara King (Cumming, Ga.) logged the complete game win in the circle. She scattered seven hits and gave up four runs. King walked three and struck out one to improve to 9-1.
Sydney Blackmon took the loss to fall to 1-1. She pitched the first three innings, giving up seven hits and six runs, all earned.
Corbin and Hughes were both perfect at the plate. Corbin went 3-for-3, while Hughes was 2-for-2 with the two jacks and six RBI.
GAME TWO: Carson-Newman 11, Lander 2 (six innings)
Carson-Newman slowly built its lead against Lander, plating two runs in three of the first four innings.
Two errors allowed Corbin and Sohm to both score in the first inning after the pair reached on a single and an error.
C-N plated two more in the second. With runners on the corners, Sohm lofted a single to left field to plate Cameron before Corbin scored when Harris reached on an error to put the Eagles up 4-0 after 1.5 innings.
Lander got a run back in the second on a sacrifice fly. However, the Eagles answered immediately when Hayden Dye clubbed a lead-off home run to start the third. She stroked it to center field on the first pitch she saw.
Lander again countered with a single run in the bottom of the third with its small-ball tactics. A walk and a double started the inning for the Bearcats before Bridgett Tierney brought in the run with a sacrifice fly. That made it 5-2 C-N after three.
The Eagles would score the final six runs of the game to win it via the run rule.
NUKE OUT@haydendye4 leaves no doubt! A three-run shot stretches things to@run-rule territory.
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) February 26, 2022
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Carson-Newman got two across in the fourth off a Hughes two-run double down the left field line.
Harris plated the first run of the sixth when she reached on a throwing error when laying down a sacrifice bunt that scored Corbin. Dye then jacked a three-run moon shot to center to set the final margin at 11-2.
Syerra Rogers (Graysville, Tenn.) logged the complete-game win. She only gave up two hits while walking five and striking out three. She moves to 5-1 on the year.
Rebecca Boesen took the loss to fall to 4-1. She gave up eight hits and seven runs, three earned, in a 3.2-inning start.
Carson-Newman returns home Wednesday to take on North Greenville at noon. Coverage will be available on the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live.
