Wingate breaks away late to eliminate Eagles in SAC Tourney
FOREST CITY, N.C.—A grand slam by Jacob Karr broke open a tight game and the Bulldogs poured it on in the late innings to earn a 17-2 victory over Carson-Newman and advance to the championship round of the 2012 Food Lion SAC Baseball Championship. Karr’s grand slam in the top of the eighth turned a two-run Wingate lead into an 8-2 cushion. Karr’s grand slam was one of his two hits on the night. Thomas Spitz slammed two homers and drove in five runs for the Bulldogs. Wingate hit five home runs on the night. The Bulldogs advance to the championship round to face Tusculum at 1 p.m. tomorrow. Carson-Newman is eliminated from the tournament.
FOREST CITY, N.C.—A grand slam by Jacob Karr broke open a tight game and the Bulldogs poured it on in the late innings to earn a 17-2 victory over Carson-Newman and advance to the championship round of the 2012 Food Lion SAC Baseball Championship.
Karr's grand slam in the top of the eighth turned a two-run Wingate lead into an 8-2 cushion. Karr's grand slam was one of his two hits on the night. Thomas Spitz slammed two homers and drove in five runs for the Bulldogs. Wingate hit five home runs on the night. The Bulldogs advance to the championship round to face Tusculum at 1 p.m. tomorrow. Carson-Newman is eliminated from the tournament.
Carson-Newman struck first to take an early lead. Cody Fox drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a sac bunt, stole third, and scored on a passed ball to give the Eagles a 1-0 advantage.
Spitz's two-run bomb in the top of the third gave the Bulldogs a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the night. An RBI-single by Jason Hunter made the score 3-1 in the top of the fourth.
Carson-Newman responded once again with a run. Bo Ausmus' RBI-groundout cut the score to 3-2.
Wingate scored another run in the top of the fifth on an RBI-single by Clark to take a 4-2 lead before Karr's grand slam put the game out of reach in the eighth.
The Bulldogs added nine insurance runs in the ninth, including three on the second of Spitz's homers. Brian Yeung added a two-run homer in the inning. Will Davis capped the inning with a pinch-hit two-run blast.
Brett Morgan earned the victory in relief for Wingate with 3.2 innings of scoreless work. Morgan surrendered just one hit, walked two and struck out five.
Tomorrow's championship round will begin at 1 p.m. as Tusculum takes on Wingate. A victory by Tusculum would give the Pioneers the league championship, while a victory by the Bulldogs would force a second game to determine the SAC champion.
