Eagles split with Lincoln Memorial to close out SAC play
HARRAGATE, Tenn. — The Carson-Newman baseball team split with Lincoln Memorial on Saturday afternoon in South Atlantic Conference action at Hennon Field. The Railsplitters defeated C-N, 20-3, in game one, while the Eagles held on for a 6-5 victory in the nightcap.
HARRAGATE, Tenn. — The Carson-Newman baseball team split with Lincoln Memorial on Saturday afternoon in South Atlantic Conference action at Hennon Field. The Railsplitters defeated C-N, 20-3, in game one, while the Eagles held on for a 6-5 victory in the nightcap.
With the split, the Eagles claim the series and are now 20-26 on the season and 15-12 in the conference. Lincoln Memorial is 28-20 overall and 16-11 in SAC play.
In the first game, the Railsplitters used a nine-run fifth inning to pull away from the Eagles for a 20-3 victory.
Lincoln Memorial pounded out 20 hits in the win, including a 4-for-6 effort from Deaun Williams. Williams had a double and a three-run home run and drove in five runs on the day. Cody Pack and Eric Kitts each had three hits and a home run, while Cody Baker and Juan Alvarez added two hits apiece.
The Eagles finished with 11 hits. Junior Lance Rorex (Chattanooga, Tenn.), freshman Zac Mercurio (Wellington, Fla.), sophomore Lucas Mohan (Glasgow, Ky.) and junior Morgan Gregory (Nashville, Tenn.) tallied two hits each in the loss.
Lincoln Memorial starting pitcher Austin Johnson (6-1) earned the win after allowing just one run and six hits and striking out three batters in six innings of work.
C-N starter Robby Thigpen (St. Petersburg, Fla.) was tagged with the loss. Thigpen (6-4) surrendered five earned runs and six hits in four innings on the mound.
In the second game, the Eagles built a 5-0 lead and survived a late rally by the Railsplitters to pull out a 6-5 win.
C-N took a 1-0 lead in the first on a RBI single by Wesley Dozier (Cornelius, N.C.) and pushed its lead to 5-0 with a four-run outburst in the second, highlighted by a two-run single by Trace Rogers (Simpsonville, S.C.).
A two-run blast by Pack in the third pulled the Railsplitters to within 5-2, and Joseph Horsley delivered a solo home run in the fourth to trim C-N's lead to 5-3.
Lincoln Memorial scored a run in the sixth to pull to within 5-4, but the Eagles responded with a run in the seventh, as Jonathan Dalton (Rutledge, Tenn.) singled and later scored when Troy Zawadzki (Shrewsbury, Mass.) reached on a fielder's choice.
The Railsplitters made things interesting in the home half of the seventh when Kitts scored on an Eagle error, but C-N reliever Mike Mullen (Bradenton, Fla.) retired the final two batters to seal the win and pick up his third save of the season.
C-N collected seven hits in the win, as Rogers went 2-for-3 and drove in two runs to lead the Eagles.
Lincoln Memorial finished with eight hits, including two each from Pack and Williams.
C-N starting hurler Alex Britt (Salisbury, N.C.) picked up the win to improve to 3-2 on the season. Britt allowed three runs and five hits and fanned five batters in four innings of work.
Lincoln Memorial starter Brandon Cowan (2-3) took the loss after giving up two earned runs and four hits in 1 2/3 innings.
The Eagles return to action on Wednesday, April 20 in the first round of the 2011 Food Lion SAC Tournament in Forest City, N.C.
