A pair of walk-offs in seventh-inning rallies carries Lee to a Wednesday sweep of No. 18 Carson-Newman
For the first time this season No. 18 Carson-Newman (19-4) finds itself on a losing streak after dropping both games to Lee (8-16) on Wednesday afternoon. The Flames used a pair of seventh-inning comebacks to upset the Eagles and upend their six-game winning streak.
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 1 |
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3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 1 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 0 |
|
|
0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 1 |
CLEVELAND, Tenn. – For the first time this season No. 18 Carson-Newman (19-4) finds itself on a losing streak after dropping both games to Lee (8-16) on Wednesday afternoon. The Flames used a pair of seventh-inning comebacks to upset the Eagles and upend their six-game winning streak.
Lee has now won the last five meetings with C-N and continues to be a thorn in the side of head coach Michael Graves. However, he sees these losses as an opportunity for his young team to grow before conference play begins.
"We had a lead in both games and just didn't close it out. I told them that if we learn from some of the situations we were in and use it the rest of the way, this wasn't as bad as it feels right now," Graves said. "We're looking forward to opening conference play the friendly confines of the Vickee Kazee-Hollifield complex."
Lee 8, Carson-Newman 5
The Eagles got things going in the first, an Abbi Martin (Gadsden, Ala.) single and a Macauley Bailey (Cross Plains, Tenn.) walk, put two on as Anne Marie Richards (Spring Hill, Tenn.) launched her third home run of the season, 3-0.
Lee got it back to all square in the first against Atiana Stamper (Knoxville, Tenn.). First, a leadoff home run from Hailey Simco on the second pitch of the bottom of the first. Then, after a single from Eva Armstrong, Hayden Gardner went deep to left field, tying the game, 3-3.
After a scoreless second, the Eagles threatened in the third with back-to-back base hits, but three straight flyout ended the top half. Before the Flames took their first lead of the day on the second long ball from Hayden Gardner, a solo shot, 4-3.
The two sides traded zeros in the fourth, fifth and sixth, with C-N stranding two in scoring position with one away in the sixth.
However, when the game flipped to the seventh, the Eagles displayed their late-game magic again, as Martin led off with a single and then Bailey launched a two-run home run, 5-4. It was her third home run this season and the fourth time in the last six games that C-N has taken the lead in the 6th inning or later.
Yet, Lee was not done. With Stamper still in the game, Tenslee Wilson hit a pinch-hit game-tying home run as the first batter in the bottom of the seventh. After a hit from Simco and a walk from Gardner, Addi Lewis delivered a no-doubter to left field for the 8-5 walk-off win.
It marked the second straight loss for the Eagles that resulted from a walk-off home run.
Stamper was handed her first loss of the season, giving up all eight runs on 10 hits with seven strikeouts, behind six and two-thirds innings of work.
Lee 7, Carson-Newman 6
Game two followed a similar tune for the Eagles as they broke the ice. Malyiah Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.) led off with a single, stole second, and then scored on an RBI single from Macauley Bailey, 1-0.
C-N added two more in the third. First, a single and another steal from Smith put her in scoring position. Then Abbi Martin came through with a base hit and then Smith scored on a throwing error from Nat Toups, allowing Martin to move to second base. For Bailey, to notch her second RBI single of the day, 3-0.
The Flames answered back with three in the bottom half. Hayden Garder continued her strong day with an RBI double. After a pitching change from Lacey Keck (Knoxville, Tenn.) to Emma Romeka (San Diego, Calif.), Addi Lewis, game one's hero, singled to make it a one-run game. Followed by a single from Addi Emmerson, Gardner scored, tied it up, 3-3.
The Eagles reclaimed the lead with a two-run single from Sarah Walker (Mills River, N.C.) that scored Anne Marie Richards and Addie Saunders (Radford, Va.). They added on with an RBI single to left, 6-3. That is the last time that Carson-Newman scored in this contest.
Lee used a pair of runs in the fifth and then sixth to get them in front. Starting with a sacrifice fly from Alyson Jarvi, before a Tenslee Wilson double brought them within one, 6-5.
Then there were more late heroics for the Flames as a heat-seeking missile from Addi Emmerson plated Kaylee Wilson, putting her on second with no one out and tying the game at 6. Emmerson would later score the winning run on a pitch from Lorelei Spradlin (Blacksburg, Va.) that popped away from Richards.
Carson-Newman will have six days off before South Atlantic Conference play begins at home on March 10th against UVA Wise. First pitch is slated for 1:00 p.m. against the Highland Cavaliers from the Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Softball Complex. Both games can be seen on FloSports, heard on cneagles.com/live, or watched as the radio crew operates from the press box on the Carson-Newman Eagle Sports Network YouTube channel.
