Koeneman's ninth-inning blast lifts Eagles past North Georgia, 7-6

DAHLONEGA, GA – Carson-Newman's Kyle Koeneman belted a two-run home run in the top of the ninth to give the Eagles their first lead of the afternoon and to carry C-N to a 7-6 road win against North Georgia, 7-6, at Bob Stein Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.

The Eagles (13-13) have won five of their last six to move to .500. The Saints (11-10) have lost three straight series.

Koeneman, who was among the nation's leaders when the week began, ripped his ninth home run of the season to left centerfield off of North Georgia's Jordan Erisman to give the Eagles a one-run lead. The blast plated Phillip Duncan who reached on an error.

The home run was the second for Koeneman in as many days.

C-N's Daniel Sharp retired all four Saints he faced to pick up his second win of the year, while Erisman picked up his second loss of the season.

For the fifth straight game, the Saints allowed a run in the first inning as Koeneman hit a sac fly to deep left off North Georgia starter Kyle Burchfield.

North Georgia would answer in the bottom of the frame as their bats came alive scoring four runs on four hits. Jordan Erisman got things started with a walk and Derek Hooper moved him into scoring position with a sac bunt. Kenny Bellavance, Matthew Black, Andrew Gordon and Dustin Carpenter followed with four straight hits to give the Saints the 3-1 advantage.

Brad Barto capped the scoring in the inning with a sac fly to right plating Gordon.

The Eagles cut the deficit to just one run in the top of the third when Philip Duncan came around to score on an error and Lance Rorex laid down a successful suicide squeeze.

The Saints would answer in the bottom of the frame as Carpenter stepped to the plate with runners on the corners and bounced into a 6-4-3 double play to score Black.

North Georgia added an insurance run in the bottom of the fourth when Hooper hit a two-out double to deep center field to score Erisman.

In the top of the fifth, the Eagles cut the deficit to one once again when Lance Reed was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Rorex bounced into a double play a batter later to score Zach Long.

Over the next three innings, the bullpens had the offenses at bay as Reese Patten tossed four shutout innings for the Saints and Lucas Watson pitched well for the Eagles.

Carson-Newman hosts Mars Hill on Friday in the opener of a three-game South Atlantic Conference series. First pitch is at 2 p.m.