Three-run ninth upends C-N against No. 1 Wingate
KODAK, Tenn. – Leading 4-2 going into the final frame, Carson-Newman was unable to hold the advantage against the top-ranked team in the country falling 5-4 in walk-off fashion Friday in the 2022 South Atlantic Conference Baseball Championships at Smokies Stadium.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 2 |
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0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 2 |
KODAK, Tenn. – Leading 4-2 going into the final frame, Carson-Newman was unable to hold the advantage against the top-ranked team in the country falling 5-4 in walk-off fashion Friday in the 2022 South Atlantic Conference Baseball Championships at Smokies Stadium.
It was an ominous start to the ninth with Grayson Chapman hitting a pop up to shallow center that the Eagles lost in the sun allowing the ball to bounce. Michael Dansky followed with a double to put the tying run in scoring position. After a ground out made it a one-run game, Mitch Farris slapped a single to center field to tie it. Following a punch out, Andrew McKay lined the game-winner into left-center field to seal the victory for the Bulldogs.
Matt Coles (Winter Garden, Fla.) retired the first four batters he saw before walking Jed Bryant in the second. After a strikeout, back-to-back singles put the Bulldogs on the board with the team adding a run on a failed pickoff attempt at first to go ahead 2-0.
Carson-Newman responded with four runs in the top of third after Wingate made a pair of errors. Matt Parkinson (Whitesboro, N.Y.) led off the inning with a double and scored when pitcher Brody McCullough threw a ball down the left field line after a bunt attempt. After a bunt single, an error at second base tied the scored. Micah Genter (Jasper, Tenn.) added a squeeze bunt and Harrison Travis (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) capped the frame with a two-out single to center field to put the Eagles on top 4-2.
Coles allowed two runs, one earned over 5 1/3 innings scattering seven hits and two walks while striking out three batters. C-N tallied five hits for the game by five different players as Travis was the only man to reach twice in the game.
Carson-Newman (28-23) falls to 2-4 all-time against the No. 1 team in the nation losing for the fourth time in five tries against the tournament's top seed since 2015. Wingate (43-6) is now 13-1 against the Eagles when nationally ranked in the all-time series.
McCullough fired 7 1/3 innings giving up four runs, three earned on four hits with seven strikeouts retiring the side in order five times. Wingate finished a dozen hits for the day with four players posting two knocks in the affair. Farris led the way with a 2-for-5 day with an RBI and a run scored.
Carson-Newman moves into an elimination game Saturday morning at 11 a.m. against the loser of the second-seeded Newberry and fifth-seeded Catawba matchup set to take place Friday afternoon.
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