Resilience shines as Eagles come from behind to sweep Saturday at the Low Country Classic
Revenge is a dish best served cold. Despite the beautiful weather on Valentine’s Day to close out the Low Country Classic, Carson-Newman was cold-blooded, scoring five unanswered runs to win the rematch with USC Beaufort and sweep the second day.
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VIDEO: Michael Graves Interview
VIDEO: Macauley Bailey Interview
VIDEO: Atiana Stamper Interview
HARDEEVILLE, S.C. – Revenge is a dish best served cold. Despite the beautiful weather on Valentine's Day to close out the Low Country Classic, Carson-Newman was cold-blooded, scoring five unanswered runs to win the rematch with USC Beaufort and sweep the second day.
The Eagles handled business against Erskine with an 8-4 win in the morning. Head coach Michael Graves was impressed by the resolve his team showed to get two wins to close out the trip south.
"It's great to see them come back, we've won some games this year that I don't think we necessarily win last year," Graves said. "There's something about this group that finds a way to win close games, and that's great to see as a coach."
While there was timely hitting today from the Eagles, Coach Graves is still looking for more consistency from top to bottom in the lineup.
"I've seen signs of getting back to where we should be. Consistency is what I want one through nine in the lineup. Last year, when one hit, everybody hit," Graves said. "They fed off each other in the momentum there when we scored those runs, it was great to see, so hopefully it happens more often now."
Here's how the day unfolded for the Eagles.
Carson-Newman 8, Erskine 4
C-N came out of the gates firing, bringing in two runs in the first inning. The first three Eagles reached base, Malyiah Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.) walked, followed by a Katey Mathena (Blacksburg, Va.) single and an Abbi Martin (Gadsden, Ala.) walk, loading the bases. A fielder's choice put Smith out at home, but Macauley Bailey (Cross Plains, Tenn.) delivered with a single to right field, plating Mathena and Martin, 2-0.
That was just the start of Bailey's stellar day at the dish. It gave an early cushion to freshman Emma Romeka (San Diego, Calif.), making her first career star.
Two frames later, after back-to-back 1-2-3 innings from Romeka in the circle, Bailey returned in a similar position. Martin singled and moved to third on an error as Sarah Walker (Mill Spring, N.C.) reached base, Shelby Armstrong (Knoxville, Tenn.) came in as a pinch runner and swiped second, setting the table for another two-run single from Bailey, 4-0.
The third continued as Addie Saunders (Radford, Va.) picked up an infield single and then a Grace Gregory (White House, Tenn.) reloaded the bases. Romeka then chipped in with her bat, driving in Bailey on a groundout, 5-0.
C-N added tacked on one more in the fourth as Smith had a leadoff walk, stole second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a sacrifice fly by Martin, 6-0.
Erskine broke through in the bottom of the fourth, as a Riley Rabon single scored Emily Brown, 6-1. Romeka's day ended after the fourth, closing game one with the lone run allowed on four hits with a strikeout and a walk in four frames of work.
The Flying Fleet scored another pair of runs in the fifth, cutting the lead in half as Savannah Koester doubled to right center, driving in Ava Rogers and Gracie Merrell, 6-3.
The Eagles pushed the lead back up to four in the sixth as Abbi Martin continued her tear to start the season, roping a double into right center, pushing Reese Winchester (San Diego, Calif.) across, 7-3.
Then in the seventh, with the bases juiced, Winchester worked a walk, bringing Saunders across home, 8-3. Erskine got one back on a Gabby Burroughs double in the bottom half, but the Eagles closed things out thanks to three strong innings combined from Kaliah Merritt (Wayne, W.V.) and Riley Sikes (Powell, Tenn.).
Carson-Newman 5, USC Beaufort 3
With a bitter taste in their mouth after Beaufort handed C-N its first loss of the year, it came in looking for revenge, although it didn't look good at first.
The Sand Sharks jumped in front after back-to-back infield base hits from Cate Conway and Tamyiah Whitlock, then moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. Chloe Turner drove in Conway on a sacrifice fly, 1-0. It was the first time this season that the Eagles surrendered the first run of the ball game.
Sarah Walker got the ball in the circle and bounced back in the next inning, allowing one base runner on a walk, but her time pitching would come to a close after the second. Romeka would return to the circle in her place.
Beaufort then extended its lead in the third, with the top of the order doing the damage once again. Conway reached on a walk, and then a Whitlock single put two on, a fly out advanced Conway before Whitlock moved up to second. Turner came up, grounded out Smith, Conway took off on the throw, prompting a throw home that was low from Bailey, and it reached the backstop, giving Whitlock time to score, 3-0. It is the largest deficit that the Eagles have faced so far this season.
After a scoreless fourth, Carson-Newman's bats woke up. Martin worked a one-out walk, and then Anne Marie Richards (Spring Hill, Tenn.) reached base, aided by an error. Sarah Walker singled, allowing Martin to score, and she would advance to second on the throw as Richards went to third. Next, Katey Mathena put a ball in play that was mishandled by the shortstop, Katelyn Boyette, as Richards crossed home, 3-2.
Atiana Stamper (Knoxville, Tenn.) would enter the circle for the Eagles in the fifth and put the Sand Sharks down in order with a strikeout, swinging momentum to C-N's side.
C-N surged ahead with three runs in the sixth. Reese Winchester started the train of the next four Eagles reaching base with a single to left center, Smith followed suit with a base knock, and Martin walked to load the bases. Once again, Macauley Bailey seized the moment, smacking a sizzling base hit up the middle, driving in Winchester and Smith to give C-N the lead, 4-3. Richards tacked on one run with a sacrifice fly to push Martin in, 5-3.
In the circle, Stamper was calm, cool and collected in the high-leverage situation presented. Beaufort put two on with two outs, but the freshman induced a flyout to end the threat in the sixth. Then in the seventh, Stamper struck out the side, electrifying the Carson-Newman dugout to sweep the Saturday doubleheader.
Carson-Newman has a busy week ahead with three doubleheaders across the next seven days. First, it hits the road again on Wednesday, heading to Shorter, before its long-awaited home opener on Saturday against King, with another home stint on Sunday versus Barton. Game one against Shorter is slated for a 3 p.m. start in Rome, Georgia, and both games can be heard on cneagles.com/live or on YouTube with the In The Booth cam with the radio crew.
