VIDEO: Michael Graves Interview
VIDEO: Hayden Dye Interview
SALISBURY, N.C. – Hayden Dye (Powell, Tenn.) socked her 10th and 11th home runs of the season to help Carson-Newman (21-15, 11-5 South Atlantic Conference) salvage a split at Catawba (19-21, 7-9 SAC) Saturday afternoon at Whitley Field.
Carson-Newman stranded 12 base runners in a 13-6 game-one loss before stiff-arming the Indians for a 7-4 win in the nightcap.
"We talked about it the later part of the games what the difference was," Carson-Newman head softball coach Michael Graves said. "We both played the same lineup game one as game two, and we both pitched the same people game one to game two. The difference was that we didn't chase balls out of the zone like we did in game one, then in game two, we scored the runners that we got in scoring position."
Carson-Newman was just 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position in game number one. That ticked up to 5-for-14 in the nightcap. Dye, Macey Hughes (Corryton, Tenn.), Brooklyn Lucero (Loma, Colo.) and Kennady Warder (Harrodsburg, Ky.) all tallied three-hit days in the twinbill.
The game one win for the Indians snapped a five-game losing streak to the Eagles in the series.
GAME ONE: Catawba 13, Carson-Newman 6
Carson-Newman struck first in the second inning. Kennady Warder (Harrodsburg, Ky.), Abbi Martin (Gadsden, Ala.) and Trinity Brooks (Jackson, Tenn.) all reached with one out with two singles sandwiched around a base on balls to Martin. Macey Hughes (Corryton, Tenn.) gave the Eagles the lead with a single to center. A strikeout wild pitch brought in the second run of the inning, but the Eagles could do no further damage.
Catawba leveled it up in the bottom of the second with a Courtnee Carter two-run home run to center.
The Indians raced in front in the third. Back-to-back one-out singles set the table for Kari Hales, who gave Catawba a 5-2 lead with a blast to center.
The Eagles answered in the fourth to tie the game. A lead-off walk for Brooks and a base hit up the middle for Hughes gave the Eagles runners on first and third after a fly out. Macauley Bailey (Cross Plains, Tenn.) scored brooks with a sacrifice fly to center before Brooke Matyasovsky (Orange, Conn.) clobbered her league-leading 12th home run of the season to right center to make it a 5-5 ballgame.
However, Catawba answered with four runs off two hits and two errors in the bottom of the fourth. The Indians loaded the bases without an out thanks to a single and a pair of walks. A one-out Grace Flynn infield single to short started the scoring for Catawba. Two errors on a grounder to second then plated two runs before Brianna Gallagher finished the scoring with a sacrifice fly for a 9-5 Catawba lead.
The Eagles scratched across another run in the fifth when Warder led off the inning with a double and came in to score on a wild pitch.
That run would be crucial as it kept the game alive. Catawba scored four more times in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead to seven runs, 13-6. Two walks and single loaded the bases without an out. Kinsley Caldwell drove in two runs with a double. Riley Tucker and Hales followed with a sacrifice fly and a base hit up the middle.
Brianna Herring logged the win for Catawba to improve to 3-3. She pitched 2.0 innings, giving up five hits and three runs, all earned, with a walk. Hales collected a three-inning save, her second of the season.
GAME TWO: Carson-Newman 7, Catawba 4
Carson-Newman scored first in the night cap. Hughes led off the game with a double before moving to third on a ground out. Matyasovsky hit a high chopper to short to score her and give C-N a 1-0 lead after the opening half inning.
Catawba answered in the bottom of the first to take a 2-1 lead. Riley Tucker tripled in a run before scoring on a groundout to short.
C-N tied the game in the top of the second. Warder led off the inning with a double to left center before moving to third on a wild pitch. She came into score on a chopper to the catcher from Brooks.
The Eagles grabbed the lead in the third. Hayden Dye (Powell, Tenn.) and Macauley Bailey (Cross Plains, Tenn.) started the inning with a double and a single. After a foul out, Brooklyn Lucero (Loma, Colo.) screamed a single into center to score Dye. Mary Vandergriff (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) followed with a sinking line drive to right to give the Eagles a two-run cushion, 4-2.
C-N played add on in the fourth. Hughes smashed her second double of the day with one out to set the table for Dye. She bashed her 10th home run of the season off the top of the wall in center to stretch the lead to 6-2.
Dye went yard in a second straight plate appearance with one out in the sixth. She homered opposite field off the Indians scoreboard in right center for her 11th home run to tie Bailey for the second most in the SAC this season.
Catawba scored twice in the bottom of the sixth of a Flynn double to left to set the final margin at 7-4.
Emma Frost (Morristown, Tenn.) logged the win in relief to improve to 10-3. She pitched the final 5.0 innings, surrendering five hits and two runs while striking out three.
Riley Tucker took the loss for Catawba to drop to 7-6. She started and pitched 3.0 innings, allowing eight hits and four runs, all earned.
Carson-Newman returns home Monday at 1 p.m. for a non-conference doubleheader against Converse. Coverage will be available on the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live. A video stream is available through FloSports with a subscription at cneagles.com/FloSB.
