February 28, 2025

Eagles erupt for 16 runs to run-rule LMU in series opener

No. 21 Carson-Newman (13-3, 6-1 SAC) is off to its best home start in the program’s modern baseball history after a blowout win of Lincoln Memorial (8-8, 3-4 SAC) 16-1 on Friday afternoon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.

Lincoln Memorial

8-8, 3-4

#21 Carson-Newman

13-3, 6-1

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Lincoln Memorial	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	4	1
#21 Carson-Newman	1	4	0	7	4	0	X	16	16	0

VIDEO: Highlights

VIDEO: Tom Griffin Interview

VIDEO: Ryan Jenkins Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – No. 21 Carson-Newman (13-3, 6-1 SAC) is off to its best home start in the program's modern baseball history after a blowout win of Lincoln Memorial (8-8, 3-4 SAC) 16-1 on Friday afternoon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.

The Eagles improve to 10-0 at home this season, the best home start in the program's modern baseball history (since 1990). In the ten home wins, C-N has outscored its opponents 97-28 and has held the opposition to one-run or less in six of the ten home victories.

"I love the way we played," Carson-Newman head coach Tom Griffin said. "We've had a great rivalry with LMU, it was just one of those days. We've all been on that end of it. We had some really good at bats against their good starting pitcher Eli Edds. Ryan Jenkins did a nice job on the home run to give us the lead and then that led to some crooked numbers. You have to be able to have really good at bats and recognize the off-speed pitches. I was really impressed with our hitters and their approach at the plate. Today, they stepped up to the challenge against one of the best pitchers in our league."

Carson-Newman has won nine of its last ten games against the Railsplitters and has won eight straight home games in the series.

Every Carson-Newman hitter in the starting lineup recorded at least one hit, led by Trey Miller (Rocky Point, N.Y) who finished with a team-high three hits and four RBI. It's the third time this season that the Eagles have had each starter record at least one base hit. Five other Eagle hitters managed at least two base hits, with three of them having multi-RBI efforts.

Ryan Jenkins (Winter Haven, Fla) set the tone early for C-N's offense. In the bottom of the first on a 1-1 pitch, Jenkins drove a ball that hit the top of the left center field wall to make it 1-0 Eagles in the first inning.

HOME RUN EAGLES!!!@ryanjenkins_4 goes yard off the top of the wall to leadoff the ballgame!

��Lincoln Memorial 0
��@CNBaseball 1
End 1st

��https://t.co/wlrpTLgNmd @FloCollegeBSB
��https://t.co/gipZ7wpfmW
��https://t.co/hiIvfnQHY5 pic.twitter.com/NJGWAVeDSz
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) February 28, 2025

Carson-Newman would get a pair of two-out baserunners in the second inning and take advantage. Miller doubled to right field to score two runs and push the lead to 3-0. Jenkins was the next batter and he repeated his first plate appearance. The shortstop hit a 3-1 pitch on the top of the left field wall to push the Eagles ahead 5-0 after two innings.

FROM IMPROBABLE TO IMPOSSIBLE!!!@ryanjenkins_4 hits his second homer of the day off the very top of the wall!

��Lincoln Memorial 0
��@CNBaseball 5
End 2nd

��https://t.co/wlrpTLgNmd @FloCollegeBSB
��https://t.co/gipZ7wpfmW
��https://t.co/hiIvfnQHY5 pic.twitter.com/WUDI4AiLfu
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) February 28, 2025

"I haven't been as confident as I usually am over the last few games," Jenkins said. "Thankfully, I have a great coach. Coach Griffin is always telling me to be confident. Today, I was just trying to see good pitches and put really good swings on them. Sometimes things don't go your way, but today they did and I am very thankful for it."

LMU scored its one and only run of the game in the top of the third. Joey Lamattina singled up the middle with two outs to make it 5-1.

It was all Eagles the rest of the way. C-N scored its first two runs of the bottom of the fourth inning off wild pitches to increase the margin to 7-1. That would be just the start of the inning. Logan Floyd (Adairsville, Ga.) started a two-out surge with his single, the start of what would be a stretch where eight consecutive hitters reached base for the Eagles in the fourth inning. Seth Benner (Morgantown, In), Aiden Gibson (Cleveland, Tenn.) and Cole Nathan (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Miller each recorded consecutive RBI singles to plate five more runs in the frame and cap a seven-run fourth inning and Carson-Newman's lead was 12-1 after four frames.

C-N would pile more runs on in the bottom of the fifth inning. The first four batters of the inning reached, with Nicholas Castellana (Lancaster, N.Y) singling to plate two runs with the bases loaded and it was 14-1. Benner followed with a RBI groundout to drive in his second run of the game to make it 15-1. Miller capped the four-run fifth inning with an infield single for his fourth RBI of the day.

Carson-Newman's pitching staff finished off the one-run effort on the mound with scoreless frames in the final four innings to finish off the dominant win.

For the fourth time in five starts, Ryan Higgins (Spotsylvania, Va) gave C-N a quality start. He tossed six innings of one-run, four hit ball and struck out seven batters in his 92-pitch effort. Xavier Hart (Sellersburg, In) threw the scoreless seventh inning and had a strikeout. The two combined to retire nine of the final 11 batters that went to the plate. Higgins improves to 4-1 on the year.

Eli Edds suffers his third loss of the year, allowing seven runs on five hits in three innings on the mound. Four other LMU relief pitchers combined to record nine outs and allow nine runs on 11 hits.

Jenkins, Floyd, Kilgore, Gibson, Nathan each had two-hit days to join Miller with multiple hits. Jenkins drove in three runs while Gibson and Benner each had two RBI days.

First pitch for tomorrow afternoon's doubleheader is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. Both games 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.