Bats come alive as Eagles clobber Cavaliers
April 8, 2025

Bats come alive as Eagles clobber Cavaliers

No. 21/13 Carson-Newman (28-11) exploded for ten runs in the third inning and never looked back in a 14-run win over UVA Wise (23-18) on Tuesday afternoon at Burchell Stallard Field.

WISE, Va. – No. 21/13 Carson-Newman (28-11) exploded for ten runs in the third inning and never looked back in a 14-run win over UVA Wise (23-18) on Tuesday afternoon at Burchell Stallard Field.

"Good win today," Carson-Newman head coach Tom Griffin said. "Obviously, the offense was really good today, we had good at bats and our two-strike hitting was there. We needed strong days from Logan Floyd, Cole Nathan and Spencer Williams. We've left some runners on here as of late so their efforts were good to see today."

The Eagles scored 16 runs on 14 base hits, scoring double-digit runs for the eighth time this year and first since a 16-run effort on March 18th vs Tusculum. C-N now has double-digit hits in five of its past six games and has reached that mark in 23 of the 39 games in 2025.

Cole Nathan and Spencer Williams each had four-hit days at the plate with Nathan matching his career-high with four RBI. Logan Floyd had hits in his first two at bats and recorded five RBI for the second time this season to lead the team. Tanner Kilgore and Braxton Smith also had multi-RBI days each driving in two runs.

Logan Floyd was at the forefront of Carson-Newman's offense, starting the scoring in the top of the first. For the second straight midweek contest, the sophomore launched a two-run home run in the first inning to elevate the Eagles to a 2-0 lead in the first inning.

 

The game looked to take a turn in the bottom of the second inning. Three of UVA Wise's first four batters singled to load the bases with one out. Making his first start of the year, Brock Culpepper (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) worked himself out of the early jam. He struck out Kaden Adsit and forced Nick Badgett to groundout to leave the bases loaded.

That momentum would carry over into the top of the third inning. Two walks and a bunt single loaded the bases to start the inning. Logan Floyd (Adairsville, Ga.) and Cole Nathan (Knoxville, Tenn.) went back-to-back with two-run doubles to push the advantage to 6-0. Tanner Kilgore (Kingsport, Tenn.) and Braxton Smith (Cleveland, Tenn.) recorded RBI singles, with Smith's driving in two runs to make the score 9-0. C-N sent 10 batters to the plate before UVA Wise finally recorded the first out of the inning. Spencer Williams (Seymour, Tenn.) had the final RBI hit of the frame scoring a pair of runs. Floyd drove in the first two runs of the inning and then the final one, with a sacrifice fly to right field to cap a ten-run third inning. 16 hitters came to the plate in the ten-run third inning which featured eight hits.

The ten-run frame is the first time in a decade that Carson-Newman has scored ten or more runs in one inning. It was last done on April 4, 2015 versus Winston Salem State, a fourth inning in which C-N scored 12 times.

The Eagles played add on in the top half of the fifth inning. After a pair of walks, Nathan drove in his third run of the day with a double to push the margin to 13-0. A Gibson sac fly and a Kilgore RBI single plated the final two runs in the inning to make it a 15-0 game.

UVA Wise started its half of the fifth inning with four straight singles, the latter of which scored its first run of the game to make it 15-1. After a mound visit, Mark Salicco (Waxhaw, N.C.) settled in and got the next three hitters out to force Wise to strand the bases loaded for the second time in the game.

Nathan's fourth hit of the game drove in his fourth run in the sixth inning to make it a 16-1 game after five and a half innings.

For the third time in the game, the Cavaliers stranded the bases loaded. Kolton Glick (Knoxville, Tenn.) escaped the jam after allowing three runners to reach with two outs to toss a scoreless sixth inning.

"There were some good chances for Wise to put up a crooked number," Griffin said. "Kudos to our pitchers for having the poise to get out of those innings and limit any damage."

Wise scored its second and final run of the game on a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning.

Bransen Angel (Lutz, Fla.) earned his first career win, tossing a pair of scoreless innings out of the bullpen with two strikeouts.

UVA Wise starting pitcher Eli Reece suffered the loss in two innings on the mound. He scattered four hits and allowed six runs and three walks. The Cavaliers pitching staff walked eight batters and all 16 runs that scored were earned. Offensively, UVA Wise left 12 guys on base.

Carson-Newman is back in action this weekend versus Lenoir-Rhyne. The three-game home weekend series is scheduled to begin on Friday at 2:00 p.m. All games will air with a video stream available on FloSports with a subscription. There will also be a free audio stream available courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network on cneagles.com/live.

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