Eagles Collect Season-High 16 Hits in 12-8 Win Over No. 26 Pfeiffer
April 1, 2009
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- The Carson-Newman baseball team rattled off a season-high 16 hits en route to a 12-8 win over No. 26 Pfeiffer Wednesday afternoon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
The Eagles exploded on offense a day after managing just five hits in an 8-1 loss at Limestone.
"(Pfeiffer) is a very good club," C-N coach Tom Griffin said. "They just beat Tusculum. That was a very good win, and we got to use a lot of people today."
"After producing only five hits (Tuesday), we had a better, more aggressive approach at the plate. We put up some crooked numbers, and guys had better at bats than they had against Limestone. It was much improved."
With the win, C-N improves to 18-16 on the season. Pfeiffer falls to 22-11-1.
Eight Eagles finished with at least one hit on the day. Mills Rogers (Simpsonville, S.C.) and Aaron Vargas (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) collected three hits each to lead the way, while Derek Long (Jefferson City, Tenn.), Tyler Wynn (LaGrange, Ga.), Corey Lamson (Gray, Tenn.) and Ryan Jordan (Abingdon, Va.) produced two hits each. Long also drove in three runs.
The Falcons pounded out eight hits, including two each from Eric Shoemaker, Zack Pou and Mike Green. Shoemaker, Pou and Preston Lyon each had a home run in the contest.
C-N reliever Jake McDonald (Shelbyville, Ky.) (1-0) pitched a scoreless third inning to earn the win. Griffin was pleased with his bullpen's performance on Wednesday
"Some of the guys in the bullpen did a good job of at least keeping things at bay," Griffin said. "That's something that we have been needing is better bullpen work, and we got it today."
Falcons starting hurler Jason Brown (2-1) was tagged with the loss. The freshman from Walnut Cove, N.C., surrendered six runs (three earned) on seven hits in 2 2/3 innings on the mound.
The Falcons struck first in the top of the second inning, as Ethan Marsh singled to lead off the inning and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Green to give Pfeiffer a 1-0 lead.
Pfeiffer pushed its lead to 3-0 in the top of the third. Pou launched a solo shot over the left-field fence to lead things off, and Will Davis scored on a throwing error for the final run of the inning.
The Eagles stormed back in the home half of the third to take the lead for good as they erupted for six runs on six hits, all of which were singles.
Jordan led off the inning with a single to left field and later scored on a Vargas single. Wesley Dozier (Cornelius, N.C.) then drew a bases loaded walk to score Cory Harless (Corryton, Tenn.). Long followed with a two-run single to right field to give C-N a 4-3 lead. Lamson then drove in a run with a sacrifice bunt, and Jordan gave the Eagles a 6-3 advantage by collecting his second single of the inning to drive in Wynn.
C-N kept its momentum going in the fourth, as Long produced a run-scoring single and scored on a passed ball to extend the Eagles' lead to 8-3.
The Eagles pushed across two more runs in the fifth when Harless smashed a RBI double to left center and Rogers drove in a run with a single to give C-N a 10-3 cushion.
Shoemaker blasted a two-run home run to right field in the top of the sixth to trim C-N's lead to 10-5, but Lamson produced a run-scoring single in the home half of the inning to push the Eagles' lead to 11-5.
Lyon pulled the Falcons to within 11-8 by launching a two-out three-run shot over the right-field fence in the top of the seventh. However, a sacrifice fly by Dozier in the home half of the seventh drove in Rogers for the final run of the contest.
The Eagles return to the diamond on Saturday for a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader against Brevard at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex. First pitch is set for 12 p.m.
