Eagles' bobble lead in wind-blown loss to King, 10-7

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – King College made the most of three Carson-Newman errors in the seventh inning to score six unearned runs in a 10-7 win on Tuesday afternoon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.

With the loss, the Eagles fall to 6-6 on the year.

King rallied from a three-run deficit to take a 7-3 lead into the eighth inning.

The Eagles answered to tie the game at 7-7 with four in the bottom half of the eighth, but King again rallied in the top of the ninth with four singles to put together a three-run frame.

On a day not made for baseball with winds gusting up to 40 miles per hour, it was Carson-Newman which struggled defensively with the elements.

The Eagles committed five errors and let a number of wind-blown fly balls find gaps defensively.  

Carson-Newman struck first in the bottom of the first.

Sophomore Ben McKinney (Johnson City, Tenn.) bounced a single through the left side to score Phillip Duncan (Knoxville, Tenn.) as the Eagles touched up King starter Daniel Glenn for a pair of hits in the opening frame.

McKinney added to the Eagle lead in the third, belting a Glenn fastball over the high fence in left to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead.

C-N would catch a break in the fourth as a would-be fly out to left by Mason Guymon got caught up in Tuesday's blustery winds fell in for an RBI double. The hit plated Bryan Everhart, who drew a leadoff walk.

King rallied taking advantage of self-inflicted wounds by the Eagles. The Tornado scored six runs on two hits, one a fly ball turned wind-blown triple, in the seventh to rally from a 3-0 deficit.

The Eagles answered with four runs as in the eighth as Lance Rorex and Lance Reed each delivered RBI singles to help tie the game at 7-7.

C-N had six hits in the inning, all singles.

King came up with a two-out single in the ninth to grab the win.

Starter Lucas Watson pitched well for the Eagles. He went 6.1 and struck out three.

McKinney led the Eagles with three hits.

Carson-Newman returns to South Atlantic Conference action on Friday at 6 p.m. It's the opener of a three-game series in Greeneville, Tenn.