Five dinger day for C-N Baseball lifts them in run-rule fashion over E&H
Carson-Newman used homeruns from four different hitters and a stout pitching performance to run-rule the Wasps 14-2 in game one of the conference series
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EMORY, Va. – Carson-Newman used homeruns from four different hitters and a stout pitching performance to run-rule the Wasps 14-2 in game one of the conference series
With this victory, the Eagles boost their record to 12-11 this season overall and grab their fourth win in conference play. There are now three teams in the SAC with four wins; Anderson is tied with the Eagles at 4-9 while Tusculum is 4-8.
"We've had some guys pitch really well, and our defense, outside of today, has been really solid. So, I think it's a combination of a lot of things, but most of it's mental. This game is about the mental part, believing in yourself, believing in your teammates, and it's not that you have to do well to believe in yourself," said head coach Tom Griffin.
Carson-Newman produced hits in each of the first two innings but came up empty in both opportunities. Bradley Soto Diaz (Davenport, Fla.) doubled to start the second, but C-N failed to put the ball in play and was blanked after two early chances.
C-N's defense helped escape E&H's first threat in the bottom of the second. With Wasp runners on second and third, they tried to steal home on a wild pitch but Carson Cochran recovered the ball quickly and fired to pitcher Ryan Higgins to make the play at the plate for the second out. Higgins struck out Isaiah Bracey to keep the game scoreless.
That momentum carried into a very productive top of the third for the Eagles. After Cochran drew a leadoff walk, Colton Evans dropped down a sacrifice bunt, but the E&H's Drew Park committed a throwing error which allowed Cochran to score from second to put C-N on the board.
Two batters later, Carson-Newman would increase its advantage. Logan Floyd (Adairsville, Ga.) drilled a fastball over the center field wall for his fifth home run of the year to make it 3-0 Eagles.
"You needed uh someone to get that big hit. And Floyd's been that guy for us all year. He's one of the best hitters in Division 2 baseball. One of the best hitters around. There's no question about that," said Griffin.
Floyd wasn't the only Eagle to take part in a home run party in the third. After singles from Soto Diaz and Rodriguez, Seth Benner demolished the first pitch of his at-bat over the left-center field wall. His first home run of the season made it 6-0 C-N.
C-N's offense would continue its third inning scoring with two outs. Cochran perfectly executed a hit and run, driving a ground ball through the right side that scored Braxton Smith (Cleveland, Tenn.) from first to cap a seven-run third inning for Carson-Newman.
Emory & Henry did their best to respond to the Eagle explosion in the third. It began with a the first defensive error of the year for 2nd baseman Cole Nathan on a dropped fly ball that let Stuart Callahan wheel to second. After a strikeout from Ryan Higgins, the Wasps' Kyle Fields singled off a ground ball that took a funky hop to get through the left side, allowing Callahan to score. Higgins proceeded to fire another strikeout, plus a ground ball to second base. The score was 7-1 headed to the fourth.
Nathan led off the top of the fourth with a single that fell in no man's land between center field, right field, and 2nd base. As if it were Groundhog Day, Floyd took advantage of a pitch and drove it over the left-center wall for his 6th homerun of the season. This chalked Floyd up for four RBI's on the day. Two strikeout and a fly ball would end the top of the fourth. Higgins worked through a walk and a batter he hit to get out of the inning with weak contact, and the Wasps would leave runner stranded on second and third base to put C-N up 9-1.
In five straight innings, C-N had the lead runner on. Aidan Gibson hit a line drive to center field for a base hit, and Braxton Smith joined the duo of Eagles that had already hit homers with a crop duster that rode the wind over the left field wall. This was Smith's 2nd career bomb. The Wasps would pause to make a pitching substitution, but it didn't slow them down.
Ivan Belk from E&H put Cochran on first after he hit him with a pitch. Then, Colton Evans blasted the fifth home run of the game for the Eagles. This was the senior's 3rd career homer in an Eagles uniform. It also marked a historical stat piece for Tom Griffin's squad, who hadn't hit five or more home runs in a game since March 29, 2014, when they had five against Lenoir-Rhyne in Hickory.
Belk would bite back with two strikeouts to end the frame, which fueled Higgins to strikeout the first batter of the fifth. Despite a double from E&H's third baseman, the junior pitcher got out of the inning to get his first win of the season. He went 5.0 innings with three hits, one run (unearned), and six strikeouts. At this point, it was 13-1.
Carson-Newman had scored in three consecutive innings and was in danger of losing that streak in the top of the 6th when Aiden Gibson singled with one out and reached second off a ball handling issue in left field. Then, Maddox Greene came into hit for Colton Evans and singled through the left side to score Gibson and hand the freshman and RBI. The Eagles had a healthy 14-1 lead in the top of the 6th.
Aaron Bobo made his first appearance in 2026 in the bottom of the 6th for C-N, when a fielding error by Gibson allowed the speedster Callahan to reach base. Callahan reached 2nd on a wild pitch from Bobo, stole third, and eventually came around to score on another wild pitch from the sophomore to make it a 14-2 ballgame. Bobo drew a pop fly to retire the side, and the Wasps were in trouble of the run-rule moving into the 7th.
Salyer put together a one-two-three inning to give the Wasps a chance to fly back into this game. However, Braxton Roberts, who came in as the final reliever at the bottom of the 7th did the very same to the E&H hitters, grabbing his fourth strikeout of the season as one of the three outs.
"That's going to be crucial going down the stretch because we need that bullpen help. So, it was great to be able to get them out there," said Griffin.
Smith, Benner, Evans, and Floyd all recorded multi-RBI games for the Eagles, catapulting the Eagles from 10th in the conference rankings in total home runs to 7th. C-N now has 16 bombs on the year.
"Really it's one house, one house of guys. They all live together. It was contagious for that group. The Benner Smith, Floyd, Evans, it was a good day for that house of horrors there," said Griffin.
Logan Floyd's 3-5 day writes him down at 7th in the SAC in RBI's (26) and 3rd in hits (36).
Ryan Higgins collected his first win of the season with his quality start. The junior is now 1-3 on the year and was responsible for six of the seven strikeouts in this game.
C-N has now won five straight against the Wasps, dating back to last February and moves the all-time series to 10-1. Carson-Newman has won three straight games now for the first time since the beginning of the season, when the Eagles opened with six wins straight. This is the 6th time this year that C-N has put up double-digit runs, and the second game this season that the Eagles have run-ruled a team.
"Once you wake up tomorrow, it's a new day. It's one pitch at a time and can't worry about results because they have beaten a lot of quality teams this year," said Griffin.
Carson-Newman will turn around tomorrow for a twin-bill to round out the series against the Wasps, with games set for 12:00 PM and 3:00 PM in Emory, Va. 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.
