Marvelous pitching drives No. 21/9 C-N to an eighth straight win
No. 21/9 Carson-Newman (24-6) fired six consecutive scoreless innings to win its eighth straight game by defeating Shorter (19-11) 6-3 on Tuesday afternoon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
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2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 6 | 10 | 0 |
VIDEO: Braxton Smith Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – No. 21/9 Carson-Newman (24-6) fired six consecutive scoreless innings to win its eighth straight game by defeating Shorter (19-11) 6-3 on Tuesday afternoon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
The victory gives C-N its 24th of the season, matching its win total from this past season already, with 21 games left in the regular season.
"I thought Christian (Henderson) gave us a quality start," Carson-Newman head coach Tom Griffin said. "He is locating his stuff better and that is what we talked about. The relief was really good, Xavier (Hart), Mark (Salicco) and Eli, their ability to throw strikes is really good right now. I love playing Shorter. I respect the heck out of their coach Wes Timmons, he does a great job with that program."
Carson-Newman created a first inning threat and was able to score the game's first two runs. After a leadoff hit was followed by a walk, Logan Floyd (Adairsville, Ga) scored a run on a RBI groundout to put C-N in front. Later in the inning with two outs, Cole Nathan (Knoxville, Tenn.) continued his success at the plate. The sophomore singled through the left side to score a second run and the Eagles led 2-0 after one inning.
Shorter would score the next three runs of the game over the next two innings. Julian Sauger homered with two outs in the second inning to make it 2-1. Next inning, Will Fincher lifted a ball over the left field wall, a two-run home run to give the Hawks their first lead of the game at 3-2.
The Eagles would quickly tie the game back up in the bottom half of the third inning. It was thanks to more two-out hitting from Nathan. He tripled to right field to score Tanner Kilgore (Kingsport, Tenn.) to tie things at three, after three frames.
Over the next six innings of the game, Carson-Newman's pitching staff would control things and toss six consecutive scoreless innings.
The offense took care of business in the bottom of the fifth inning, taking advantage of free passes. Three straight walks to start the inning loaded the bases for Braxton Smith (Cleveland, Tenn.), he singled to right field and plated two runs to make it 5-3.
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Later in the inning, Nathan got stuck in a rundown on a squeeze play and managed to outrun Shorter's third baseman to sprint home and score the third run of the frame and C-N's lead extended to three.
Christian Henderson (Clarksville, Tenn.) started the scoreless stretch in the fourth inning. He got the first two outs of the fifth inning and was relieved by Xavier Hart (Sellersburg, In) who would record the final out of that inning.
Hart would face seven batters over the next two innings and keep Shorter off the scoreboard, allowing just one hit. His 2 1/3 innings on the mound earned him his second straight win.
Mark Salicco (Waxhaw, N.C.) pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning to keep the save situation in tact.
Making his eighth save appearance of the year, Eli Norris (Ringgold, Ga.) stayed perfect in the closing role. He fired a scoreless ninth inning and recorded a strikeout to make him eight for eight in save situations this season.
"He has evolved and matured so much," Griffin said. "On the field, in the classroom, you name it. We learn our lessons and he has done that. He has been a great leader to our guys as he has matured. That is what you want, to help the guys out through your successes and failures and he has done that. The reward for it is having success."
Carson-Newman's pitching staff combined to allow just three hits and four total baserunners over the final six innings of the game and recorded four strikeouts as a staff.
Nathan led C-N's offensive attack with his fifth straight multi-hit game and his sixth multi-RBI game of the year. His hitting streak extends to 12 games.
For the fifth straight game, C-N recorded double-digit hits finishing with ten as a team.
Carson-Newman is back in action tomorrow afternoon with a road contest against Trevecca Nazarene starting at 4:00 p.m. eastern time. The game will air with a free audio stream available courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network on cneagles.com/live.
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