Walk-off home run stuns No. 21 Carson-Newman, as Eagles split with Converse
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Riding high on an eight-game winning streak and becoming a newly-minted top 25 team, No. 21 Carson-Newman (14-2) came crashing down on a Tuesday night against Converse (3-15).
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
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4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 0 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 0 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
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6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 19 | 0 |
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0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 3 |
VIDEO: Michael Graves Interview
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Riding high on an eight-game winning streak and becoming a newly-minted top 25 team, No. 21 Carson-Newman (14-2) came crashing down on a Tuesday night against Converse (3-15).
The Valkyries picked up the win in game one thanks to a pitch hit walk-off home run from Karlie Gibson. In game two, the Eagles bounced back with a 13-4 win powered by nine strikeouts from Atiana Stamper (Knoxville, Tenn.). It marked the first time that Converse had ever defeated Carson-Newman.
Missed opportunities plagued C-N in what was a frustrating loss for Head Coach Michael Graves and company to take.
"Hats off to [Converse], they came out fired up and ready to play. They hustled, made plays when they needed to and had timely hits," Graves said. "From our side, it's embarrassing how we lost. You open up with four runs in the first and then we only had one the rest of the game, I mean that's never going to work."
Converse 6, Carson-Newman 5
C-N claimed an early lead in the first after Malyiah Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.) walked, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. An infield single and stolen base from Abbi Martin (Gadsden, Ala.) put two in scoring position for a double from Macauley Bailey (Cross Plains, Tenn.), scoring Smith. Anne Marie Richards (Spring Hill, Tenn.) followed suit, lacing a base hit to left, driving in Martin. A fielder's choice from Sarah Walker (Mills River, N.C.) scored Bailey, prompting a pitching change, 3-0.
After an Addie Saunders (Radford, Va.) walk and a fielder's choice from Katey Mathena (Blacksburg, Va.) the bases were loaded. Reese Winchester (San Diego, Calif.) added onto the lead with an RBI single, 4-0.
Senior Riley Sikes (Powell, Tenn.) made her first start of the season and ran into trouble after a leadoff triple from Aubree Leonard. An RBI single from Tyler Karabach cut the lead down to three, 4-1.
In the third, C-N pushed the lead back to four as Grace Gregory (White House, Tenn.) led off with a single, moved to second on a ground out and to third on a passed ball. Saunders pushed Gregory across on a RBI groundout, 5-1.
Converse would respond and tie things up with a four-run bottom half of the fourth.
It started quickly for the Valkyries, a single from Karabach and then a two-run shot from Kiarra Thomas cut the lead in half, 5-3. Sikes was relieved after the home run. She finished with three innings of work, allowing three runs on four hits.
Walker was put in and was unable to get out of the inning. Three straight base hits loaded the bases for Converse with no outs. A fielder's choice got the lead runner at home, followed by an infield fly put two away, but a Leonard single scored two, tying things up, 5-5.
Gracee Stucki and Emma Romeka (San Diego, Calif.) traded scoreless frames in the fifth and sixth. In the seventh, Stucki put up another zero, before Karlie Gibson hit a pinch-hit walk-off home run in the bottom half, 6-5.
Carson-Newman 13, Converse 4
After being shocked in game one, the Eagles used another fast start to get ahead in the second half of the doubleheader, plating six in the first.
Malyiah Smith led off with a single and advanced to second on an error, before Abbi Martin drove her in on a double. A Grace Gregory walk put two on, as Anne Marie Richards hammered her second home of the season to left field, 4-0.
A quick pitching change put Gracee Stucki back in the contest. However, C-N got to her quicker in round two, as Sarah Walker got on with a base hit before Katey Mathena launched her first career home run, 6-0.
Lorelei Spradlin (Blacksburg, Va.) got the start for the Eagles, she worked a scoreless first before Converse broke through in the second. Olivia Jones picked up an RBI single to break the ice for the Valkyries, Aubree Leonard followed with a double to score Jones, and then Tyler Karabach drove in Megan Monk, 6-3, chasing Spradlin for Atiana Stamper (Knoxville, Tenn.).
The two sides traded runs in the fourth. In the top half, Bailey drove in Malyiah Smith on an RBI single, 7-3. In the bottom half, Charley Swartzel golfed a solo home run to left field, 7-4, but that is all Converse would get against Stamper.
C-N added two runs in the fifth, it started with a base hit from Walker, followed by a double from Mathena. A base hit from Addie Saunders pushed Walker across and then a sacrifice fly from Reese Winchester scored Mathena, 9-4.
The Eagles got more in the seventh with four consecutive two-out RBI hits. Smith started the train with a double to left, as Saunders motored home. Martin followed it up with a base hit to right, scoring Smith. A Bailey double down the right field line let Martin go from first to home. Gregory finished the sequence with a single through the left side, 13-4.
Stamper shut things down in the seventh to secure the win. The freshman right hander improved to 4-0, going 5.1 innings, allowing one run on two hits and struck out nine for the second time this season.
No. 21 Carson-Newman returns to action on Friday when they begin day one of the Triangle Classic in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Eagles will play six games in three days, beginning with Chowan and Frostburg State on Friday. All games can be heard on cneagles.com/live or watch the radio crew work with the In The Booth Cam on YouTube.
