Bulldogs rally past C-N in the ninth inning
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (20-14, 10-12 SAC) has been on the good and now bad side of a three-run deficit in a ninth inning this season. The Eagles lost a three-run lead with two outs left, suffering a 13-10 loss to #19 Wingate (27-9, 17-5 SAC) in the series opener on Friday afternoon.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 2 |
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0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 1 |
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (20-14, 10-12 SAC) has been on the good and now bad side of a three-run deficit in a ninth inning this season. The Eagles lost a three-run lead with two outs left to get, suffering a 13-10 loss to #19 Wingate (27-9, 17-5 SAC) in the series opener on Friday afternoon.
"We had it against a really good club," Carson-Newman head coach Tom Griffin said. "Their offensive numbers are no joke and (Chad) Harvey on the mound was tremendous. Their left side of the infield is really solid too, it's a really good club and there is a reason they are winning. Baseball is a tough game, but there is one thing you can't do and that's give up freebies. I managed the bullpen poorly today. That is one of the tougher things to manage, even in the big leagues. I did a poor job with that and so I will take the hit for that."
Both teams were held scoreless through the first two innings.
Wingate grabbed the first lead of the game, recording consecutive two-out doubles to lead 2-0 in the third.
Carson-Newman responded back in bottom half of the inning. Cole Nathan (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Bradley Soto Diaz (Davenport, Fla.) each hit sac flies with the bases loaded to tie the game at two.
The next four runs in the game were scored because of two Wingate swings in the fourth and fifth innings. Jalen Evans launched his fourth home run of the year over the center field wall to put WU back in front 5-2. Bowen Powell added to that lead in the fifth, with a one-out home run and Wingate led 6-2.
The next three frames belonged to Carson-Newman. Colton Evans got the Eagles a run back in the fifth, launching a home run over the left field wall to make it 6-3.
C-N and Evans took advantage of Wingate freebies in the bottom of the sixth. A walk, hit by pitch and singled loaded the bases with one out. Carson Cochran (Franklin, Tenn.) drew a four-pitch walk to make it a 6-4 game. After a strikeout, that brought Evans back to the plate and the senior delivered. On the first pitch, Evans blasted a grand slam over the right field wall to give Carson-Newman the sixth inning lead.
Evans is the second Eagle this season to have a multi-homer day and the first to hit a grand slam since Floyd on March 30, 2024 at Lenoir-Rhyne.
C-N scored a seventh consecutive in the seventh. On the eighth pitch of his at bat, Soto Diaz crushed his third home run of the season to straight away center to extend C-N's advantage to 9-6.
Later in the seventh, the Eagles loaded the bases but left them loaded.
The two teams traded runs in the eighth inning. Wingate's Neil Griffin bounced into a double play, but scored a run in the sequence.
Nathan responded for the Eagles, blasting his fifth home run of the season to straight center to put them back up three heading into the ninth.
Carson-Newman hit home runs in four consecutive innings (5-8).
The top offense in the South Atlantic Conference rallied in the ninth. Culpepper retired the first batter, but then a walk and a double brought the tying run to the plate. Tanner McCammon made it a two-run game, singling to left. Next batter Ben Karpowicz changed the game for good. He blasted his league-best 12th home run of the year on a 3-2 pitch to push the Bulldogs in front 11-10.
They were not done after that swing. Wingate recorded three more hits and scored two more runs on an error and single to finish off a six-run ninth inning on six hits.
The Eagles only put the ball in play one time in the bottom half of the ninth, but good at bats brought the winning run to the plate. Gibson led off with a walk and reserves Ryan Bolton (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Kylan Hornbuckle (Boaz, Ala.) both drew two-out walks to load the bases, putting the tying run on base. Nathan worked a long at bat, but grounded out sharply on the seventh pitch of his plate appearance to see the game end.
Wingate pounded out 19 hits, the most hits by an opposing team against C-N this season. It's tied for the second-most in a game by WU as well this season.
Five different Bulldogs produced multi-hit days, led by Powell's four hit effort.
Kyle Adams (Gordonsville, Tenn.) suffered his first career loss. He did not record an out in the four batters that he faced, allowing four runs.
Christian Henderson (Clarksville, Tenn.) took a no-decision in his ninth start of the season. He allow six runs on ten hits with four punchouts.
Evans' two home run day led Carson-Newman offensively, driving in a career-high five runs.
Charlie Carpenter got the win for WU, recording five outs and allowing just one run out of the pen. Carson Morton walked the bases loaded in the ninth, but held for his first career save.
The series continues and concludes tomorrow afternoon with a doubleheader. First pitch for the Saturday doubleheader set for noon. A video stream of the weekend series is available with a subscription to FloSports at cneagles.com/flobase. 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.
