CENTRAL, S.C. – Brooke Matyasovsky (Orange, Conn.) gave Carson-Newman (10-10) space with two leadoff solo blasts in a night cap win, but Southern Wesleyan (10-8) rallied late in game one to split a doubleheader with the Eagles Thursday afternoon at Varsity Field.
Southern Wesleyan prevailed in game one 6-3 behind a four-run sixth inning before the Eagles scored in every inning from the second on for an 8-4 win in game two.
"We have a lot of talent on this team but the product we put on the field sometimes doesn't show it," Carson-Newman head softball coach Michael Gravew said. "We aren't good enough to keep making the same old mistakes over and over again. If you look at our losses, it's the same old story. Pitching has got to get tougher on the mound. We are terrible against the leadoff batter of an inning and that puts extra pressure on the defense. We can't get people out when we start off 0-2 or 1-2 on the batter. And we don't give up singles when ahead like that. We give up dingers and doubles. It's frustrating.
"We don't score runners in scoring position and we don't have productive at bats with runners on base in general. We scored three in the first and didn't do anything to help ourselves the rest of the game. Good teams put people away and keep scoring. We rarely do that to anyone and it is really hurting this team no matter how talented we are. Talent will only get us so far. We have got to find more fight and grit to be where we expected to be at the end of April. I'm frustrated, the other coaches are frustrated and some of the girls are too."
Matyasovsky tallied her 56th and 57th career home runs in consecutive plate appearances in the night cap. She drove in three and has six blasts on the year.
Hayden Dye (Powell, Tenn.) was 4-of-7 at the plate with three drive in and a home run on the day. Macauley Bailey (Cross Plains, Tenn.) also logged a multi-hit effort on the day.
GAME ONE: Southern Wesleyan 6, Carson-Newman 3
Carson-Newman used the long ball to grab a lead in the bottom of the first. A two-out single from Macauley Bailey (Cross Plains, Tenn.) set the table for Hayden Dye (Powell, Tenn.). She poked a 3-2 pitch over the fence in center to set the opening edge at 2-0.
The two-out rally continued for C-N with a walk to Brooke Matyasovsky (Orange, Conn.) and an RBI double down the right field line from Brooklyn Lucero (Loma, Colo.) set the lead at 3-0 after the first half inning.
SWU countered in the bottom of the first. The first two Warriors of the inning reached on a walk and a hit batter. Avery Mercey took advantage, doubling in a run with a two-base hit down the right field line. That gave the Warriors a pair of runners in scoring position and cut the deficit to two. Amberly Way came through with a timely fly ball to plate Addi Johnson. The sacrifice fly made it a 3-2 game.
The teams exchanged scoreless frames the next four innings before SWU erupted in the sixth. A walk and two singles loaded the bases with one out. Olivia Haag cleared the bases with a triple to right center to put SWU in front 5-3. Then Rebecca Lamb followed with a two-out pinch-hit double to set the final margin at 6-3.
Carson-Newman went down in order in the seventh.
Haag got the win in the circle for SWU to improve to 4-4. Haag went the distance. She gave up three runs, all earned, while walking five and striking out five.
NicKolette Ferguson (Erwin, Tenn.) took the loss for C-N, her first of the year, to fall to 3-1. She gave up four runs, all earned, and six hits in a 4.0-inning relief outing.
GAME TWO: Carson-Newman 8, Southern Wesleyan 4
The Warriors would strike first in the nightcap. A single and a steal started the first for SWU before Johnson smoked a run-producing triple into right to give the Warriors the lead.
The Eagles drew level in the second. Dye reached on an error to start the inning and moved to second on a ground out. She scored on a dropped fly ball with two out to make it a 1-1 game.
C-N further took advantage of errors in the third. Trinity Brooks (Jackson, Tenn.) started the inning reaching on an E6. She took two bases on a sacrifice bunt before scoring on a Macey Hughes (Corryton, Tenn.) base hit back up the box. After a Bailey double gave C-N two in scoring position, Dye drove in the lead runner with a single up the middle to push C-N to a 3-1 lead. Matyasovsky made it a three-run lead with another single up the middle to plate Bailey.
Avery Mercer brought the game back to a one-run contest in the top of the third with a one-out solo shot.
The Eagles got that run back in the fourth. A Brooks double and a Hughes walk featuring a passed ball gave C-N runners on the corners with one out. Bailey delivered a run with a single through the left side.
SWU got the deficit back to a run with an infield single to third from Taylor Palfrey in the bottom of the fourth.
Matyasovsky stretched the lead back to two runs when she led off the fifth with solo shot opposite field to right. That gave C-N a 6-4 lead.
C-N stretched the lead to three in the top of the sixth when Abbi Martin (Gadsden, Ala.) raced home on a passed ball.
It was Matyasovsky who extended the lead our to four runs with her second leadoff blast of the day to start the seventh for an 8-4 lead.
Emma Frost (Morristown, Tenn.) logged the win in the circle to move to 3-1. She pitched the first 4.0 innings, surrendering seven hits and four runs, all earned. She struck out six and walked one.
Kayleigh Bowers notched a three-inning save. She didn't allow a hit or a run and faced the minimum number of batters after the Eagles turned a double play after a walk.
Amberly Way took the loss for SWU to fall to 3-3. She pitched the first 3.0 innings, giving up seven hits and six runs, three of which were earned.
Carson-Newman returns home Sunday to take on Wheeling at 11:30 a.m. Coverage will be available on the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live. A video stream can be found through FloSports at cneagles.com/FloSB.
