Three-run seventh inning pushes Carson-Newman past No. 24 Anderson
RV Carson-Newman (40-10) displayed its late-game heroics, scoring all five runs in the final two frames, opening the SAC Championship Series with a win over No. 24 Anderson (36-12), 5-2, on Thursday at McCrorie Family Stadium.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 2 |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
VIDEO: Postgame Press Conference
VIDEO: In The Booth vs Lincoln Memorial
HICKORY, N.C. – RV Carson-Newman (40-10) displayed its late-game heroics, scoring all five runs in the final two frames, opening the SAC Championship Series with a win over No. 24 Anderson (36-12), 5-2, on Thursday at McCrorie Family Stadium.
The Eagles scored the first runs on a two-run single from Anne Marie Richards (Spring Hill, Tenn.) in the sixth, as Grace Gregory (White House, Tenn.) delivered the game-winning hit with an RBI double with two outs in the top of the seventh. Gregory set the single-season record in program history with her 22nd double on the game-winning play.
It marked the 12th game this season in which Carson-Newman has taken the lead in the sixth inning or later. A staple for this young team under head coach Michael Graves
"I thought we came out pretty good, both teams came out good, fired up, it was a great game. Thought we had some opportunities early in the game, a couple of times, had runners on base, and we just couldn't get the timely hit," Graves said. "Anderson did a good job of bouncing back, but I thought we were pretty resilient and wanted to win the game, so we found a way to come through and pound some hits and get some more runs."
The first five innings were a pitcher's duel between Atiana Stamper (Knoxville, Tenn.) and SAC Player of the Year Carson Hobbs. Both pitchers worked efficiently through the lineup, as both sides traded scoreless frames until the sixth inning.
C-N threatened in the second after back-to-back base hits from Addie Saunders (Radford, Va.) and Anne Marie Richards, but couldn't draw a run across. In the fourth, two straight base hits from Grace Gregory and Saunders put the pressure on, and Hobbs navigated the trouble once more. The Eagles left five runners on base through the first four frames.
Meanwhile, Stamper was carving through the Anderson order with three flawless innings, retiring the first 10 batters she faced. The Trojans got their first base runner via an error and didn't record their first hit until there were two outs in the fifth inning. The freshman had four strikeouts the first time through the order and six punchouts after five innings.
Then, in the sixth, the energy changed, and it was veteran leader Macauley Bailey (Cross Plains, Tenn.) starting the frame with a leadoff double that hit off the top of the wall and came back into the field of play. Bailee Worley (Black Mountain, N.C.) came in as a pinch runner for Bailey, a single from Gregory put runners on the corners, before a Saunders groundout put both in scoring position. It was Richards with another clutch hit with a two-run single to break the ice, 2-0.
In the bottom half of the inning, Anderson answered back with a pair of runs after loading the bases on a pair of infield hits and a hit batter. Lauren Brakovec came through with a two-run single to right-center, tying the game at 2, on the Trojans' first hit to the outfield.
With the top of the order due up, the Eagles got the ball rolling on a one-out walk from Abbi Martin (Gadsden, Ala.), Bailey pushed a ball to the wall again, but it was caught, putting two outs on the board. C-N rattled off four straight two-out hits, three of them scoring runs.
It started with a fly from Gregory, which for a moment was caught by the centerfielder Kara Davis, but as she crashed into the wall, she lost it, and Martin raced home to put the Eagles back in front. Then two straight base hits from Saunders and Richards extended the lead to three, 5-2.
Stamper worked a scoreless bottom of the seventh to send her team onto the next round on Friday.
Tomorrow morning, C-N clashes with in-state rival Lincoln Memorial with a trip to Saturday's SAC Championship on the line. The Railsplitters upset top seed and hosts, Lenoir-Rhyne, in the first game on Thursday, 3-1, behind a complete game from Brooke Strickland.
The two sides met on March 14th in Harrogate, with LMU taking the first contest, 2-1, in nine innings. The Eagles responded with a 12-2 run-rule win in the second game. Last season, the Railsplitters ended C-N's season with a 7-1 victory in the SAC Tournament.
"It's going to be a rivalry game, I think we both consider each other one of our bigger rivals. We just got to come back with the same composure and have our strike zone knowledge," Graves said. "Come out, play good defense, get good pitching again, and the talents there, we just got to not lose the game."
Tomorrow's first pitch is set for 10:30 a.m. from Hickory, North Carolina, at McCrorie Family Stadium, with Carson-Newman serving as the home team. Fans can watch the game on FloSports with a subscription, listen on cneagles.com/live or watch the In The Booth cam on Carson-Newman's Eagle Sports Network YouTube channel.
