C-N smashes Charleston in home doubleheader
Carson-Newman (6-0) jumped in front of the three-time defending MEC tournament champions Charleston (W.V.) (0-2) early and never looked back to sweep a Friday afternoon doubleheader at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
|
|
4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | X | 12 | 12 | 0 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 2 |
|
|
1 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | X | 13 | 13 | 0 |
VIDEO: Kolton Casson Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (6-0) jumped in front of the three-time defending MEC tournament champions RV Charleston (W.V.) (0-2) early and never looked back to sweep a Friday afternoon doubleheader at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
Between both games of the doubleheader, Carson-Newman outscored Charleston 25-8 and recorded 25 hits between both victories. In the first two innings of both games, C-N outscored UC 15-2, scoring five runs in the first innings and ten runs in the second innings.
Carson-Newman has scored 12 runs or more in four of its six wins to start the year. The Eagles are 6-0 for the first time since 2020 when it began that season 7-0.
"It was a good day for us," Carson-Newman head coach Tom Griffin said. "As a coach, you are extremely happy with the performance and the wins, but I also understand that Charleston has not been outside much. That is a super talented team that will compete for another conference championship and regional bid because of their culture. Our guys, right now, are doing a good job of recognizing pitches not expanding the strike zone and then with two strikes getting balls in play and especially more backside."
The Eagles took advantage of many Charleston free passes. Counting both games, UC's pitching staff walked 16 batters and hit nine C-N hitters. On the flipside, C-N allowed just eight free passes in the two wins.
Many different players made major impacts offensively for the Eagles in the two wins. Leadoff hitter Ryan Jenkins (Winter Haven, FL) had four hits and five RBI in his C-N debut to lead the way. Three of those hits and RBI came in the second win of the day.
"In the first game it was all about getting my confidence and feel back," Jenkins said. "I just tried to flush the first game and be the best version of myself and help my team get a win. Thankfully, in the second game it paid off for me."
Aiden Gibson (Cleveland, Tenn.) and Trey Miller (Rocky Point, N.Y) each finished with three hits and four RBI. Logan Floyd (Adairsville, Ga) and Tanner Kilgore (Kingsport, Tenn.) each had three hits and three RBI.
Game One: Carson-Newman 12, Charleston (W.V.) 1
Golden Eagles' starting pitcher Trace Hartman needed just six pitches for the first two outs of the inning, but struggled to get the final out. Floyd and Kilgore recorded back-to-back singles and a hit by pitch loaded the bases for Gibson. He drew a five-pitch walk to start the scoring. Nathan followed with a single back up the middle to score another run and it was 2-0 C-N. Hartman was rattled by this point and missed the strike zone on eight consecutive pitches and walked in back to back runs and it was 4-0 Eagles after the first inning.
Ryan Higgins (Spotsylvania, VA) tossed a scoreless second inning and C-N's offense went back to work. The Eagles loaded the bases with one out and drew another bases loaded walk to extend the lead to five. C-N's final four runs of the frame came with two outs. Smith was hit by a pitch to score the sixth run. Miller, the next batter, drove a 2-2 pitch into left center field to plate two more runs and C-N's lead was 8-0. The inning concluded with Jenkins singling in Smith from third to cap a five-run second inning.
Carson-Newman scored eight of its first nine runs of the game with two outs and five of those runs came off a walk or hit by pitch.
The Eagles scored their 10th run of game one in the fourth inning off a fielding error with Smith scoring on the play.
The offensive onslaught continued into the sixth inning. Ryan Bolton singled through the right side to plate C-N's 11th run of the game and Floyd scored another run off a fielder's choice to make it 12-0 Eagles.
Higgins tossed six more scoreless innings in his second start of the season, allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out four batters. Earning his second win of the season, Higgins faced the minimum in three of his six innings of work.
"A lot of my day goes to the offense," Higgins said. "We can't say enough about the offense here recently. It gives you all the confidence in the world when you have a lead every time you go out there to pitch. I think a big part of it has been Nick (Castellana) back there with me. We are in sync all the time. Whatever he puts down is also what I'm thinking. It's great to have that kind of flow with him.
Relievers Mark Salicco and Dallen Turner pitched scoreless seventh and eighth innings with Salicco recording two strikeouts.
UC avoided being shutout by squeezing across their first and only run in the ninth frame. On a 3-2 pitch with two outs, Carter Rust poked a RBI single to right to avoid the shutout.
Game Two: Carson-Newman 13, Charleston 7
C-N would start the scoring again in game two. It started the game with three consecutive singles, with Floyd's being the third to drive in Jenkins and make it 1-0 C-N after the opening inning.
UC would respond and take its first lead of the day in the top of the second inning. With two outs, Samuel Lemond blooped a two-run single to right field.
Carson-Newman's Eagles did not let the Golden Eagles hold that lead for long. The eight and nine hitters Smith and Miller reached with one out, and Jenkins followed by roping a two-run double into right center field to put C-N back in front 3-2. Two batters later, Logan Floyd doubled into the opposite gap to score Jenkins for the third run of the inning. After a pitching change, Tanner Kilgore (Kingsport, Tenn.) launched a high fly ball over the left field wall for his third home run of the week and C-N led 6-2 after two innings.
Jenkins kickstarted C-N's five run fourth inning. After a leadoff double, he stole third and later scored on a wild pitch to make it 7-2 Eagles. A few batters later, Kilgore and Gibson recorded RBI singles and it was 9-2 with still just one out in the bottom of the fourth inning. The final two runs of the fourth inning were scored on a bases loaded walk and hit by pitch. The lead was 11-2 after four frames.
The Eagles added two more runs in the fifth inning thanks to RBI doubles from Gibson and Nathan to push the advantage to 13-2, with C-N scoring 12 unanswered runs over four innings.
UC would finally break up C-N's scoring surge with two runs in the top of the sixth inning. The Golden Eagles would score three more in the seventh, but it did not matter as C-N swept the doubleheader, winning the second contest 13-7.
In his second career start, Kolton Casson (Benton, Tenn.) pitched six innings, allowing four earned runs while striking out a career-high eight batters to earn his second win. At one point during his start, Casson had retired nine consecutive hitters.
Offensively in game two, four different hitters had multi-hit days and multi-RBI days. At the top of the order, Jenkins paced C-N going three for three with three RBI.
Carson-Newman wraps up the weekend tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. versus Trevecca Nazarene. The game /will air with a video stream available on FloSports with a subscription. There will also be a free audio stream available courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network on cneagles.com/live.
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