Adams slams the door, Eagles snap skid against Flames
CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (11-11) snapped a seven-game losing streak to Lee (15-7) thanks to Kyle Adams’ ninth work to help save a 6-5 win on Tuesday afternoon at Larry Carpenter Stadium.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 0 |
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0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 3 |
VIDEO: Carson Cochran Interview
CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (11-11) snapped a seven-game losing streak to Lee (15-7) thanks to Kyle Adams' ninth work to help save a 6-5 win on Tuesday afternoon at Larry Carpenter Stadium.
With C-N leading 6-4, Lee loaded the bases with nobody out in the 9th inning. The Eagles turned to redshirt freshman Kyle Adams (Gordonsville, Tenn.) to try and escape the jam and did just that. On the first pitch, Nick Caraballo hit a sacrifice fly to center to make it a 6-5 game. On the very next pitch, Adams got Aidan McClary to pop out in foul ground for the second out. The rookie got the third out himself, striking out Ryan Valdes on six pitches to close out a one-run win.
"The story of the day is Kyle Adams," Carson-Newman head coach Tom Griffin said. "Coach (Jason) White had talked to us about this and said that he had been throwing really well. That was his call and said let's get him in here in this situation. His (Kyle's) heart rate stays low and that is what you need when you are a reliever. It may, but he doesn't show it. I thought Carson (Cochran) did a good job back there and the defense was solid. Johno Pierce made some amazing plays for us. It was a pitching and defense day. Very happy for the guys and a good win against a quality team."
For Adams, it was just his third career appearance to earn his first career save.
"Yesterday at practice we talked a lot about confidence," Adams said. "You get confidence by repetition, hard work and what you do every day. Pitching in a situation like that, they are putting me in there for a reason. Going out there with confidence helped a lot."
The win for Carson-Newman snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Flames. It's C-N's first win in the series since March 15, 2022, when it won 12-7. The six runs scored in the win were also the most in a game since that last Eagles win.
Carson-Newman's six runs were the first six runs of the game. Colton Evans doubled on the first pitch of the game and a walk and an error loaded the bases for the Eagles with one out in the first. A defensive mistake allowed C-N to score a run on an error to lead 1-0.
The Eagles had their big inning in the second inning. Braxton Smith (Cleveland, Tenn.) singled and got into scoring position after a wild pitch. Cochran scored him with a RBI single to extend the advantage to 2-0. The Flames recorded two outs, but walked two Eagles to do it to load the bases with two outs. On a 1-0 pitch, Seth Benner (Morganton, Ind) was hit by a pitch to make it a 3-0 C-N lead.
Two pitches later, Aiden Gibson (Cleveland, Tenn.) poked a single into right center field to plate two runs and the lead grew to 5-0.
The very next pitch was another RBI single. This one off the bat of Johno Pierce (Knoxville, Tenn.) to cap a five-run second that put Carson-Newman ahead 6-0 after two innings.
Drew Fletcher (Waxhaw, N.C.) took the no-decision in his fifth career start, but the rookie pitched four quality innings. He allowed just six hits and the only run that scored was a solo home run in the 3rd. 43 of his 67 pitches were strikes.
Denver Slifka (Knoxville, Tenn.) was C-N's first reliever, pitching a 1-2-3 fifth inning on just nine pitches. That quality inning earned Slifka his first career win.
Carson-Newman's offense went cold and came up empty on opportunities to extend the margin. The Eagles left two in scoring position in the 6th, and then watched the Flames scored twice in the bottom of the inning.
Back to back two-out hits from McClary and Valdes made it a 6-3 after six innings.
Carson-Newman's best chances to extend its lead came in innings seven and eight. Two hit by pitches and a Cochran single loaded the bases for the Eagles with nobody out. A pop out and two strikeouts followed in that situation.
In the eighth, Bradley Soto Diaz (Davenport, Fla.) drew a lead off walk and Matthew Bishop (Leesville, S.C.) delivered a pinch-hit single to put runners on first and second with nobody out. A double play and a strikeout ended the eighth-inning threat.
Luckily for C-N, it had Adams to save the day in the ninth.
Cochran and Evans each had a pair of multi-hit days, with Cochran's being the first one his career. Gibson was one of four Eagles to drive in a run, driving in two himself. Offensively, C-N stranded 13 runners, its seventh game stranding 10 or more this season.
Lee outhit C-N 13-7 and got a pair of three-hit days in the offensive effort. C-N's pitching staff held Lee's top four hitters to a combined 4 for 16.
Carson-Newman stays on the road this week as it heads to Emory & Henry for a three-game South Atlantic Conference series starting on Friday. First pitch for the series opener is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. The game can be heard on cneagles.com/live. Fans can also watch the radio crew at work with a feed of press row on YouTube.
