VIDEO: Michael Graves Interview
VIDEO: Game One Highlights
VIDEO: Game Two Highlights
VIDEO: Brooklyn Lucero Interview
VIDEO: Brooke Matyasovsky Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (12-10) firmly proved which bird was superior Sunday afternoon in a battle between Eagles and Cardinals.
C-N plated a combined 39 runs off 32 hits in sweeping a doubleheader from Wheeling (3-15) at the Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Softball Complex.
The Eagles won both games in run-rule fashion, taking game one 16-1 before pounding out a 23-5 victory in the nightcap.
"I think this was the most disciplined we have been in the batter box all season long," Carson-Newman head softball coach Michael Graves said. "It shows what we are capable of when we aren't swinging at bad pitches."
The 23 runs in the nightcap are the sixth-most in a game in school history, while the 18 hits from game two register as the 10th-most for a game in school history.
C-N smoked six home runs in the twin bill, with Macauley Bailey (Cross Plains, Tenn.), Brooke Matyasovsky (Orange, Conn.) and Brooklyn Lucero (Loma, Colo.) all going yard twice.
GAME ONE: Carson-Newman 16, Wheeling 1 (five innings)
Carson-Newman wasted little time in denting the scoreboard. Abbi Martin (Gadsen, Ala.) bounced a single through the right side of infield. She stole second and took third on a groundout. It didn't matter what base she was on as Macauley Bailey (Cross Plains, Tenn.) clobbered a 1-0 pitch out of the park to center for a 2-0 lead.
The Eagles loaded the bases with walks to Hayden Dye (Powell, Tenn.) and Kennady Warder (Harrodsburg, Ky.) sandwiched around a Brooke Matyasovksy (Orange, Conn.) double. Brooklyn Lucero (Loma, Colo.) drove in another run with a ground out. A pinch-hit, bases-loaded walk for Wynter Morris (Crozet, Va.) brought in the fourth run of the inning while Warder scored on a wild pitch to complete the five-run first.
C-N exploded for six more runs in second, everything was unearned and came with two out. Bailey singled to lead off the inning before moving to second on a wild pitch and to third on a fly out. She scored on a passed ball.
Warder extended the inning reaching on an error. Lucero made the Cardinals pay for the miscue, launching a 1-0 pitch to center for her first home run of the season. Mary Vandergriff (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) and Trinity Brooks (Jackson, Tenn.) both reached on base hits. They both scored when Martin reached on a high throw to first.
Macey Hughes (Corryton, Tenn.) and Matyasovsky finished the scoring an RBI single to center and a bases-loaded walk, respectively.
C-N stretched the lead to two touchdowns in the third with an RBI triple to left center from Brooks and a single to center from Alaina Smith (Lebanon, Tenn.).
The Eagles continued to play add on in the fourth when Lucero blasted her second home run to center. The two-run shot off the first pitch she saw to set the edge at 16 runs.
Wheeling plated one in the fifth on a groundout to set the final margin at 16-1
Emma Frost (Morristown, Tenn.) got the win in the circle. She pitched 3.0 innings in one-hit shutout fashion with four strikeouts.
Maria Clark took the loss for Wheeling. She pitched 1.2 innings giving up nine hits and 12 runs, five of which were earned. She walked seven and struck out one.
GAME TWO: Carson-Newman 23, Wheeling 5 (five innings)
Wheeling lit the lamp first in the nightcap. The Cardinals go three straight singles with Cassie Feyh's rip through the right side putting Wheeling ahead 1-0 after the opening half inning.
Carson-Newman responded immediately. The Eagles loaded the bases without an out before a base on balls to Dye brought in the tying run. Matyasovsky put C-N in front with a single through the left side. Warder poured it on, clearing the bases with a double down the left line and a 5-1 lead.
C-N exploded for 14 runs in the frame. Martin hit a sacrifice fly before Hughes walked to re-load the bases. Bailey blasted the first pitch she saw down the left field line for a grand slam. A Warder RBI single and little league home run from Morris concluded the scoring in the 14-run frame.
C-N stretched the lead to 17-1 in the second with an RBI infield single to short from Dye and a Matyasovsky two-run blast to left center.
The Cardinals responded with three runs in the third. The Cardinals loaded the bases before scratching across runs with a Cassie Feyh single, a hit batter in Anna Florczak and a Jenna Hollerich base hit up the middle.
The Eagles poured on more in the third. C-N batted around while scoring runs on a Hughes RBI single to left, a Bailee Worley (Black Mountain, N.C.) bases loaded walk, a passed ball on a strikeout and a Matyasovsky three-run home run. The Eagles led 23-4 after three.
Wheeling scraped across one more run in the fourth on a Sare single to center to set the final margin at 23-5.
Hailey Leslie (Cleveland, Tenn.) got the win in relief to go to 2-0 on the year. She pitched 1.2 innings with two hits and a run allowed against three strikeouts and a walk. Kayleigh Bowers (Stephenville, Texas) started, but didn't hit the minimum number of innings pitched to qualify for a win. She worked a 2.1-inning start, giving up five hits and four runs, all earned.
Ryleigh Peters took the loss for Wheeling to fall to 1-4. She started and pitched 0.2 innings. C-N got to her, tallying six hits and 13 run, all earned against her. She walked seven batters.
Carson-Newman hits the road Wednesday to take on Limestone. First pitch from Babe Ruth Field is set for 1 p.m.
