No. 24 Carson-Newman Splits A Doubleheader With Erskine Monday Afternoon At Home
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The No. 24-ranked Carson-Newman softball team (10-2) split a pair of games on Monday afternoon with Erskine (7-13) at the Lady Eagle Softball Complex. C-N won the first game, 8-4, while the Flying Fleet prevailed, 5-1, in the nightcap.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The No. 24-ranked
Carson-Newman softball team (10-2) split a pair of games on Monday
afternoon with Erskine (7-13) at the Lady Eagle Softball Complex.
C-N won the first game, 8-4, while the Flying Fleet prevailed, 5-1,
in the nightcap.
“It’s always good to get the first (game of a
doubleheader),” said Head Coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield.
“You always hope that winning that first game will give
you some momentum to build on in the second. We’ve got to
pitch a whole lot better and we’re giving up too many hits
right now and we have to mix it up better, but that’s part of
the game.
“They’ve got three kids in their lineup that
consistently hit us today. We’ve got a long way to go
we’ve had some wins but Erskine always comes and plays us
hard.”
Game One – No. 24 Carson-Newman 8, Erskine 4 - Box
Score
Erskine jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the top of the first
inning. Kelly Davis (Weaverville, N.C.) got a leadoff double and
moved to third on a single up the middle by Lindsey LaPrad
(Summerville, S.C.). Larissa Shannon (Newberry, S.C.) grounded out
to drive in Davis and a subsequent double by Courtney Davis
(Asheville, N.C.) plated LaPrad.
Carson-Newman responded in the bottom of the first with four runs
of its own. With two on and one out, senior first baseman
Sara Little (Calhoun, Ga.) blasted a three-run
home run to left centerfield to tie the C-N record for home runs in
a career (27).
“Sara has been a mainstay for us this
season,” added Hollifield. “Even though she is
chasing the home run record, you can tell she is trying to be
steady and help her team go out and get the win.”
Junior pitcher Ashley Boyd (Chattanooga, Tenn.)
tripled to right field the next at bat and was driven home on a
sacrifice fly to right by junior centerfielder Whitney
Durham (Rossville, Ga.) as the Lady Eagles took a 4-2 lead
after one full inning of play.
The Lady Eagles got four hits and took advantage of an error by
the Flying Fleet to score four runs in the bottom of the fifth
inning to take an 8-2 lead.
Erskine tallied another run in the top of the sixth to close the
gap to 8-3. After Courtney Davis doubled to lead off the inning,
Morgan Purcell (Duncan, S.C.) hit a double to right center, scoring
Davis.
The Flying Fleet added a final run in the top of the seventh but
it wasn’t enough as the Lady Eagles held on for the 8-4
victory.
Boyd (5-0) picked up the win in the circle for C-N going the whole
way as she allowed eight hits and struck out three. Lauren Gunter
(Batesburg, S.C.) suffered the loss for Erskine.
Game Two – Erskine 5, No. 24 Carson-Newman 2 - Box
Score
After Shannon drew a leadoff walk in the top of the second,
Courtney Davis homered down the right field line to give the Flying
Fleet a 2-0 lead. Carson-Newman got one run in the bottom of the
third inning to close the Erskine lead to 2-1.
In the top of the fourth, Shannon singled through the left side to
start the inning bringing up Courtney Davis, who hit her second
home run of the game to right centerfield to extend the Flying
Fleet’s lead to 4-1.
Carson-Newman got the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of
the sixth inning. Price hit a two-out single up the middle to score
one, closing the margin to 4-2. Freshman catcher Bri
Shoemake (Ooltewah, Tenn.) then flied out to centerfield,
stranding three runners for the Lady Eagles.
Erskine pushed their lead in the top of the seventh inning to 5-2
with Kelsey Spurrier’s (Charlotte, N.C.) two-out solo home
run to left field.
In the bottom of the seventh, Little drew a leadoff walk and was
replaced by Ashlee Dillard (Roanoke, Va.). Boyd
lined out to centerfield and Durham lined into a double play to end
the contest as darkness fell on the Lady Eagle Softball
Complex.
Spurrier picked up the win for Erskine as she scattered seven hits
over seven innings, striking out four. Carson-Newman’s
Mary Shealy (Clinton, S.C.) fell to 3-2 on the
season with the loss.
“We had too many baserunning mistakes, our defense was
not as sharp as we want it to be and our pitch selection at the
plate has to be a lot better,” concluded Hollifield.
“We’re not pitching like we need to, and not
scoring at will. We have to clean that up. We’re going to get
up early and work on that tomorrow.”
Carson-Newman will travel to Spartanburg, S.C., this weekend for
five contests in the Mid-South Classic. The Lady Eagles will take
on Georgia College on Friday at 4:00 p.m., before playing East
Stroudsburg (Pa.) at 6:00 p.m.
