Eagles win two close games to remain alive at SAC Baseball Championships
No. 18 Carson-Newman (37-16) stayed alive in the South Atlantic Conference Baseball Championships by winning a pair of close contests on Saturday at Durham Field. The Eagles started the day by scoring the game’s first seven runs and holding off a late rally from UVA Wise (26-24) to collect a 7-4 win to start the day. 45 minutes later, C-N started its second elimination game of the day and took down Wingate (26-25) 7-6 in a see-saw affair to advance.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 0 |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 3 |
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0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 1 |
VIDEO: Braxton Smith Interview
HICKORY, N.C. – No. 18 Carson-Newman (37-16) stayed alive in the South Atlantic Conference Baseball Championships by winning a pair of close contests on Saturday at Durham Field.
The Eagles started the day by scoring the game's first seven runs and holding off a late rally from UVA Wise (26-24) to collect a 7-4 win to start the day. 45 minutes later, C-N started its second elimination game of the day and took down Wingate (26-25) 7-6 in a see-saw affair to advance.
"Yesterday the at bats were not very good and today it was much better," Carson-Newman head coach Tom Griffin said. "I thought Kolton Casson was outstanding and then Xavier Hart was big. Coming in and giving us the relief that he did was really good."
The two wins for Carson-Newman is the first time the program has won two games on the same day at the South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament since defeating Newberry and Catawba on April 30, 2017. The pair of victories also increases Carson-Newman's win total to 37 games, the fourth-most in the DII era and the second-most in a season under Griffin.
After just one run on six hits in Friday's opening round loss, C-N's offense came to hit in the Saturday sweep. The Eagles scored 14 runs on 24 hits, compiling 12 hits in each of the two wins. Leadoff batter Ryan Jenkins (Winter Haven, Fla.) was terrific at the top of the order recording six hits in the two wins, three in each game. Braxton Smith (Cleveland, Tenn.) went four for six at the plate, while Frankie Delgado (Deltona, Fla.), Logan Floyd (Adairsville, Ga.) Trey Miller (Rocky Point, N.Y) and Spencer Williams (Seymour, Tenn.) all collected three hit efforts in the two wins. Delgado, Jenkins and Floyd each drove in a pair of runs as well.
Game One: Carson-Newman 7, UVA Wise 4
Carson-Newman's offense would set the tone for how the day would go in the top of the first inning. Jenkins and Floyd collected a pair of hits to start the frame and would both later score on a fielder's choice and a steal of home to make it 2-0 Eagles in the 1st.
Three base hits in the second inning eventually led to a run scoring. On the second hit of the inning, Braxton Smith was thrown out at home trying to go first to home on a Delgado double. Delgado scored later in the frame on a wild pitch and it was 3-0 Eagles after two innings.
Kolton Casson (Benton, Tenn.) was ready to go from the start. He retired the first seven batters he faced in his first postseason start.
His quality pitching and three scoreless innings to start helped set the stage for C-N's offense to tack on more runs in the fourth inning. Jenkins and Miller doubles in the frame drove in runs and the lead extended to 5-0.
Good two-strike hitting from Delgado pushed the lead to seven in the sixth inning. The senior catcher punched a ball back up the middle for a two-run single.
UVA Wise managed to get baserunners in each of the middle innings, but was unable to anything with that. The Cavaliers did not get a runner into scoring position against Casson until the seventh inning. Back to back singles put runners on first and second with two outs. Matt Frye singled in a run but Casson limited the damage to keep the lead at 7-1 after seven innings.
The Cavaliers began mounting their comeback early in the eighth inning. A two-run home run by DJ Dickson off Casson made it a 7-3 game. Casson recovered well and retired the next two batters before exiting the game after 7.2 innings.
It was up to C-N's bullpen to complete the final inning and extend the weekend. The ninth inning brought plenty of excitement. Frye homered off Jaxon Seritt (Knoxville, Tenn.) to make it a three-run game. After a four-pitch walk, Bransen Angel (Lutz, Fla.) came in to pitch and delivered a four-pitch walk. Finally, the Eagles then turned to their closer Eli Norris (Ringgold, Ga.) to get the final two outs. After walking a batter to bring the tying run to the plate, the right-hander regrouped and got a pop out and a strikeout to finish the game.
Casson, the SAC's Freshman and Pitcher of the Year, won his 13th game in his 14th start of the year. His victory to begin the day ties Matt Huskey for the program's DII record for wins in a season with 13. The rookie went a career-long 7.2 innings allowing eight hits and three runs with six strikeouts.
Norris' two-out save is his 10th of the year. He ties former teammate Hunter Harritan for fourth all-time in saves in a season in program history. It's the second straight season C-N has a closer collect ten saves and just the fifth time the program has a pitcher reach the double-digit saves mark.
Game Two: Carson-Newman 7, Wingate 6
Carson-Newman would score first to start its second elimination game of the day. Jenkins capped a third inning that started with three consecutive singles to make it 1-0. Two batters later, Floyd scored a second run on a RBI groundout to make it 2-0 C-N in the third inning.
WU would have its first response in the bottom of the third inning. The lead was cut in half after a Cam Harris sacrifice fly for the second out of the inning. Three straight two-out singles would eventually score two runs and Wingate led by 1.
The Eagles would flip momentum back to their side next half inning. Ryan Bolton (Knoxville, Tenn.) pinch hit and singled to right field and the next two batters reached to load the bases. Facing a new pitcher, Delgado stepped to the plate and was hit by the first pitch and the game was tied again at three. Two more runs would score in the fourth on a wild pitch and a Floyd infield single to put the Eagles ahead by two.
Wingate would chip away at the deficit and score exactly one run in each of the three middle innings. It would grab the lead after Jordan Dixon reached on a fielding error that scored a runner from third.
The game would have its fourth lead change in the top of the seventh inning. Three straight singles on three consecutive pitches tied the game for C-N, with Floyd, Nathan and Williams going back-to-back to back. Bolton pushed the Eagles ahead by legging out a ground ball to score a run and it was a 7-6 game after six and a half innings.
Xavier Hart (Sellersburg, Ind.) settled in quite well after allowing a run in each of his first three innings. The final three innings were sweat-free, as the senior would go on to retire the final ten batters of the game, sending Wingate down in order in each of the final three frames to seal the one-run win.
He struck out four batters in a career-best six innings of work, only allowing one earned run to score. Entering the year with no career wins at C-N, Hart now has five this season.
The senior reliever has been spectacular when pitching away from Jefferson, Tennessee. His earned run average in 19 innings in away and neutral site games is 1.44, compared to a 12.83 era in home outings.
Jackson Underwood (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) got the start in the final game of the night. He pitched three innings and allowed one earned run on five hits and struck out two.
WU's Chad Harvey suffered his second loss of the year in four innings on the mound.
#18 Carson-Newman is back in action tomorrow afternoon against #9 Lenoir-Rhyne. The Eagles will have to beat the Bears twice to advance to the SAC's Championship Series next week. First pitch tomorrow afternoon in Hickory, North Carolina is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. The game will air with a free audio stream available courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network on cneagles.com/live.
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