Eagles lose two against Catawba to open SAC play
Feb. 21, 2009
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- The No. 12 Carson-Newman baseball team dropped its first two games of the South Atlantic Conference schedule Saturday to Catawba, 10-4 and 5-0, at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
With the losses, the Eagles fall to 8-5 overall and 0-2 in the SAC. Catawba improves to 6-4 on the season and 2-0 in conference play.
In the first game, the Indians pounded out 13 hits and took advantage of three C-N errors to win 10-4. The Eagles managed eight hits in the game.
Craige Lyerly (Salisbury, N.C.) and Josh Hohn (Greensboro, N.C.) led Catawba with three hits each. Jacob Faggart (Concord, N.C.) added two hits with a home run and two RBIs, while Chris Ahearn added a pair of hits.
Tyler Wynn (LaGrange, Ga.) went 3-for-3 to lead the Eagles.
Eagles starting hurler Ryan Hendrickson (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) (1-1) was tagged with the loss. The junior right-hander allowed two runs on three hits and struck out seven in four innings of work.
Blake Ketner (2-0) picked up the win for Catawba, giving up four runs (two earned) on five hits in five innings on the mound.
The Indians struck first in the top of the fourth inning with two runs on two hits. Chris Ahearn (Charlotte, N.C.) plated on a passed ball to give Catawba a 1-0 lead. Brett Hatley (Salisbury, N.C.) then came through with a RBI single to drive in Ryan Query (Kannapolis, N.C.) for the final run of the inning.
Catawba pushed its lead to 3-0 in the top of the fifth when Query hit into a double play, allowing Lyerly to score from third.
C-N put its first run on the board in the home half of the fifth. Wynn singled to lead off the inning, advanced to second on an Evan Patterson (Knoxville, Tenn.) single and scored when Cody Nix (Cartersville, Ga.) reached base safely on a Catawba error.
The Indians answered with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth on RBI singles by Faggart and Ahearn to give Catawba a 5-1 advantage.
However, the Eagles rallied for three runs in the bottom of the sixth to cut Catawba's lead to 5-4. Rory Elliott (Jefferson City, Tenn.) drew a leadoff walk to begin the rally, and Derek Long (Jefferson City, Tenn.) came through with a single in the next at bat. Antonio Nickel (Naples, Fla.) followed with a single to center field to drive in Elliott. Pinch hitter Morgan Gregory (Nashville, Tenn.) then crushed a ball to Catawba second baseman Corey Parker, who committed an error that allowed both Long and Nickel to score.
Faggart launched a two-out solo home run over the left field fence in the top of the eighth to give the Indians a 6-4 lead.
The Indians put the game away in the ninth with a four-run outburst. Hatley drove in a run on a fielder's choice and later scored on a C-N error. Lyerly added a RBI single, and Parker plated on a wild pitch for the final run of the game.
In the second contest, Catawba finished with just five hits, but C-N committed three more costly errors in the 5-0 loss.
The Eagles managed just two hits off winning pitcher Trevor Mullins (1-0). The junior right-hander pitched all seven innings, walked just one batter and struck out seven.
C-N starter Justin Higdon (Ooltewah, Tenn.) (2-1) was hit with his first loss of the season after surrendering four runs (three earned) on four hits and walking three batters in 3 1/3 innings of work.
Freshman second baseman Aaron Vargas (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) collected the only two hits for the Eagles in the game.
Lyerly finished with a pair of hits to lead Catawba.
As they did in the first game, the Indians struck in the top of the first inning. Query scored on a wild pitch to give Catawba an early 1-0 lead.
The Indians added a run in the top of the second on an Ahearn single to right field that drove in Faggart to give the Indians a 2-0 advantage after two.
Catawba continued to pull away from the Eagles in the top of the fourth, extending its lead to 4-0 on a pair of C-N miscues. Zeb Link (Woodleaf, N.C.) reached first on an Eagles error to lead off the inning, and Faggart drew a walk. Lyerly then singled to right field to drive in Link, but C-N committed an error on the play, allowing Faggart to score all the way from first.
The Indians scored the final run of the afternoon in the top of the sixth. Parker reached base after being hit by a pitch and later scored on a C-N throwing error after a Lyerly single to center field.
C-N returns to the diamond on Sunday for the final game of the three-game series against Catawba. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
