Gregory sparks C-N offense in 11E Rivalry sweep of Tusculum
GREENVILLE, Tenn. – After splitting its first four South Atlantic Conference doubleheaders, RV Carson-Newman (25-8, 6-4 SAC) got over the hump and swept rival Tusculum (11-17, 1-7 SAC) on Tuesday at Red Edmonds Field.
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 13 | 18 | 1 |
|
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
VIDEO: Michael Graves Interview
VIDEO: Grace Gregory Interview
VIDEO: Atiana Stamper Interview
GREENVILLE, Tenn. – After splitting its first four South Atlantic Conference doubleheaders, RV Carson-Newman (25-8, 6-4 SAC) got over the hump and swept rival Tusculum (11-17, 1-7 SAC) on Tuesday at Red Edmonds Field.
A closely contested affair in the opening game saw the Eagles break through for the three in the fifth to carry them to the win, 3-1. While they blitzed the Pioneers in game two en route to a 13-1 run-rule victory.
Despite the two victories, head coach Michael Graves felt his team didn't even scratch the surface of the potential they have.
"It's always great to beat your biggest rival in a doubleheader, in a sweep, and then we put it on them pretty good there in game two, so that feels good," Graves said. "But I'm not going to sugarcoat anything. I think we played terribly. We had base running miscues, we swung at bad pitches, defensive miscues, we had all kinds of stuff go wrong, and then we still ended up doing that. Just imagine how it'd be if we actually played solid and good the whole time."
Carson-Newman has now won the last seven meetings against Tusculum and extends its current winning streak to three straight games.
The Eagles picked up big performances from Grace Gregory (White House, Tenn.), plus pitchers Atiana Stamper (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Reagan Rowan (Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.), who both tossed complete games.
Gregory went 5-for-7 on the day, including a 4-for-4, six RBI performance in the second half of the twin bill.
Game One: Carson-Newman 3, Tusculum 1
The opening contest was a highly anticipated pitching duel between Stamper and Chesley Stonesifer, two of the top arms in the SAC, and it delivered.
Both sides traded zeros across the first three innings, as Stonesifer retired the first 12 batters she faced, notching six strikeouts and taking her perfect game bid into the fifth. Stamper didn't have the strikeout numbers but was working efficiently until Tusculum broke through.
After an eight-pitch battle, Ava Hallows went deep to left field, 1-0, in the bottom of the fourth.
The offense came to life a half inning later as Gregory posted the first hit on the afternoon for C-N with a backside double. After an Addie Saunders (Radford, Va.) walk and a sacrifice bunt from Anne Marie Richards (Spring Hill, Tenn.) put both in scoring position. It set the stage for Sarah Walker's (Mills River, N.C.) two-run single to center, plating both Gregory and Saunders. The Eagles added another on a base hit from Shelby Armstrong (Knoxville, Tenn.), 3-1.
The Pioneers had a chance to cut back into the lead after back-to-back one-out singles from Abby Cruz and Ellie Alvarez in the fifth. However, an infield fly and a strikeout ended any chance of staging a comeback.
That was all C-N needed as Stamper shut down the Pioneer offense across the final three innings to pick up the game one win. The freshman finished with seven innings of one-run ball on six hits, striking out four and walking a pair.
Stonesifer, on the other hand, had a complete game, allowing just four hits and notching seven strikeouts.
Game Two: Carson-Newman 13, Tusculum 1
After seizing momentum in the back end of the opening contest, Carson-Newman had a chance to carry the wave into its first sweep of the year, and it did exactly that.
An Abbi Martin (Gadsden, Ala.) walk, and a base hit from Macauley Bailey (Cross Plains, Tenn.) put two on with one out. It set the table for a three-run home run from Grace Gregory to draw first blood, 3-0. It was the senior's sixth home run of the season, adding to her team-best mark.
The Eagles added one more after consecutive two-out hits, first a double from Anne Marie Richards and then a single from Sarah Walker, 4-0.
Reagan Rowan got the ball in the circle, making her first career start and the sophomore was locked in, striking out three in her first two innings.
C-N had an opportunity to add more in the third as Gregory and Addie Saunders both opened the inning with base hits, and then Richards reached on a fielder's choice, loading the bases. However, it was unable to take advantage of the opportunity.
Tusculum trimmed the deficit to three in the bottom of the third. A sequence of three singles in four batters drove in Andrea Davis off the bat of Ellie Alvarez, 4-1.
The Eagles applied more pressure in the fourth, as Malyiah Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.) singled, but was caught stealing, and later, after a Martin double, Bailey was picked off at first. They would not come away empty-handed as a bloop single to center pushed Martin across, 5-1.
An avalanche of runs ensued in the top of the fifth as three straight singles loaded the bases. However, back-to-back fielder's choices resulted in two force outs at home, but then the Eagles broke through. Shelby Armstrong scored on a wild pitch, and then a walk from Bailey made the bases juiced once more.
C-N poured it on, all in consecutive fashion, as Gregory hammered one to left field, scoring Smith and Martin. Then Saunders reached on an error that scored Bailey. Followed by a single from Richards, bringing in Gregory. A double from Walker scored Saunders and Richards, as Katey Mathena (Blacksburg, Va.) capped off the eight-run fifth inning with an RBI single to score Walker, 13-1.
Rowan improved to 2-0 after a 1-2-3 fifth inning to secure the run-rule victory. The sophomore tossed five innings, allowing four hits and the lone run to score was unearned, as she struck out four with no walks. She sweetened the deal with a pregame agreement with her head coach.
"She said if we get out of here in five with a run-rule victory that you let me hit next game," Graves said. "So I said sure, so I guess she's our DH next game."
Carson-Newman gets tomorrow off before returning to action on Thursday with its final non-conference clash against Milligan (14-8, 9-3 AAC). The first game against the Buffaloes is set for 1:00 p.m. at the Vickee-Kazee Hollifield Softball Complex. Fans can watch the game with a FloSports subscription, listen to the game on cneagles.com/live or watch the In The Booth feed on the Carson-Newman Eagle Sports Network YouTube channel.
