No. 24 Carson-Newman Splits A Doubleheader With Erskine Monday Afternoon At Home

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The No. 24-ranked Carson-Newman softball team (10-2) split a pair of games on Monday afternoon with Erskine (7-13) at the Lady Eagle Softball Complex. C-N won the first game, 8-4, while the Flying Fleet prevailed, 5-1, in the nightcap.

“It’s always good to get the first (game of a doubleheader),” said Head Coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield. “You always hope that winning that first game will give you some momentum to build on in the second. We’ve got to pitch a whole lot better and we’re giving up too many hits right now and we have to mix it up better, but that’s part of the game.

“They’ve got three kids in their lineup that consistently hit us today. We’ve got a long way to go we’ve had some wins but Erskine always comes and plays us hard.”

Game One – No. 24 Carson-Newman 8, Erskine 4 - Box Score
Erskine jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the top of the first inning. Kelly Davis (Weaverville, N.C.) got a leadoff double and moved to third on a single up the middle by Lindsey LaPrad (Summerville, S.C.). Larissa Shannon (Newberry, S.C.) grounded out to drive in Davis and a subsequent double by Courtney Davis (Asheville, N.C.) plated LaPrad.

Carson-Newman responded in the bottom of the first with four runs of its own. With two on and one out, senior first baseman Sara Little (Calhoun, Ga.) blasted a three-run home run to left centerfield to tie the C-N record for home runs in a career (27).

“Sara has been a mainstay for us this season,” added Hollifield. “Even though she is chasing the home run record, you can tell she is trying to be steady and help her team go out and get the win.”

Junior pitcher Ashley Boyd (Chattanooga, Tenn.) tripled to right field the next at bat and was driven home on a sacrifice fly to right by junior centerfielder Whitney Durham (Rossville, Ga.) as the Lady Eagles took a 4-2 lead after one full inning of play.

The Lady Eagles got four hits and took advantage of an error by the Flying Fleet to score four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take an 8-2 lead.

Erskine tallied another run in the top of the sixth to close the gap to 8-3. After Courtney Davis doubled to lead off the inning, Morgan Purcell (Duncan, S.C.) hit a double to right center, scoring Davis.

The Flying Fleet added a final run in the top of the seventh but it wasn’t enough as the Lady Eagles held on for the 8-4 victory.

Boyd (5-0) picked up the win in the circle for C-N going the whole way as she allowed eight hits and struck out three. Lauren Gunter (Batesburg, S.C.) suffered the loss for Erskine.

Game Two – Erskine 5, No. 24 Carson-Newman 2 - Box Score
After Shannon drew a leadoff walk in the top of the second, Courtney Davis homered down the right field line to give the Flying Fleet a 2-0 lead. Carson-Newman got one run in the bottom of the third inning to close the Erskine lead to 2-1.

In the top of the fourth, Shannon singled through the left side to start the inning bringing up Courtney Davis, who hit her second home run of the game to right centerfield to extend the Flying Fleet’s lead to 4-1.

Carson-Newman got the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Price hit a two-out single up the middle to score one, closing the margin to 4-2. Freshman catcher Bri Shoemake (Ooltewah, Tenn.) then flied out to centerfield, stranding three runners for the Lady Eagles.

Erskine pushed their lead in the top of the seventh inning to 5-2 with Kelsey Spurrier’s (Charlotte, N.C.) two-out solo home run to left field.

In the bottom of the seventh, Little drew a leadoff walk and was replaced by Ashlee Dillard (Roanoke, Va.). Boyd lined out to centerfield and Durham lined into a double play to end the contest as darkness fell on the Lady Eagle Softball Complex.

Spurrier picked up the win for Erskine as she scattered seven hits over seven innings, striking out four. Carson-Newman’s Mary Shealy (Clinton, S.C.) fell to 3-2 on the season with the loss.

“We had too many baserunning mistakes, our defense was not as sharp as we want it to be and our pitch selection at the plate has to be a lot better,” concluded Hollifield. “We’re not pitching like we need to, and not scoring at will. We have to clean that up. We’re going to get up early and work on that tomorrow.”

Carson-Newman will travel to Spartanburg, S.C., this weekend for five contests in the Mid-South Classic. The Lady Eagles will take on Georgia College on Friday at 4:00 p.m., before playing East Stroudsburg (Pa.) at 6:00 p.m.