Bailey climbs higher in SAC record books as No. 24 C-N splits with Wingate
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – It was a tale of two games for No. 24 Carson-Newman (22-7, 3-3) once again, as it split its third consecutive South Atlantic Conference doubleheader, this time against Wingate (16-10, 3-3). It was a change of pace as the Eagles stormed out of the gates and took game one, 8-0, in a six-inning run rule, before falling into an early hole and were unable to respond to drop game two, 7-4.
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
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4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 15 | 0 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 1 |
|
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
VIDEO: Michael Graves Interview
VIDEO: No. 24 Carson-Newman 8, Wingate 0, Game 1 Highlights
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – It was a tale of two games for No. 24 Carson-Newman (22-7, 3-3) once again, as it split its third consecutive South Atlantic Conference doubleheader, this time against Wingate (16-10, 3-3). It was a change of pace as the Eagles stormed out of the gates and took game one, 8-0, in a six-inning run rule, before falling into an early hole and were unable to respond to drop game two, 7-4.
"In the first game, we were very disciplined at the plate. In between games, I said, 'that's probably our best approach at the plate that we've had all year long.' Our strike zone knowledge was great," Graves said. "Then in the second game, it was just like we were terrible. I mean, the knowledge of the strike zone was horrible. We couldn't put anything together, shooting ourselves in the foot by swinging at the bad pitches."
Game one was the first victory against Wingate since April 29, 2023, when C-N got a 6-0 win on the road. It snapped a six-game losing streak against the Bulldogs.
No. 24 Carson-Newman 8, Wingate 0
In each of the last two doubleheaders, C-N dropped game one before responding in game two, but that tune changed.
The Eagles wasted no time drawing first blood in the bottom of the first. Following a 1-2-3 top half from Atiana Stamper (Knoxville, Tenn.), the offense got going as the first two got on before Macauley Bailey (Cross Plains, Tenn.) roped a double to left center, scoring Malyiah Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.). Then on the next pitch, Grace Gregory (White House, Tenn.) put a charge into one with a dead-center home run, 4-0.
C-N tacked on one more in the second as Abbi Martin (Gadsden, Ala.) reached, stole second and advanced to third on the second hit from Bailey, before scoring on a wild pitch, 5-0.
The cushion grew to six runs after Katey Mathena (Blacksburg, Va.) and Sarah Walker (Mills River, N.C.) led off the third with back-to-back base hits. A sacrifice bunt from Shelby Armstrong (Knoxville, Tenn.) put both in scoring position as a sacrifice fly from Smith drove in Mathena, 6-0.
The Eagles were scoreless in the next two, but Stamper continued to pick apart the Wingate offense, retiring the last 12 hitters she faced before Walker put the game on ice in the bottom of the sixth.
After a fielder's choice, an Addie Saunders (Radford, Va.) double put runners on second and third for Walker. The freshman came through with a single up the middle to score Reese Winchester (San Diego, Calif.) and Saunders, 8-0.
Seven Eagle hitters recorded multi-hit games, headlined by a 3-for-4 contest from Walker. Bailey, Gregory, Mathena, Saunders, Smith and Anne Marie Richards (Spring Hill, Tenn.) all posted a pair of hits.
Meanwhile, Stamper improved to 7-2 while holding Wingate to two hits across the six innings, striking out a trio of hitters.
Wingate 7, No. 24 Carson-Newman 4
Game two was the 100th all-time meeting between the two schools, and after a 30-minute break, Wingate flipped the script by throwing the first punch, the first five punches to be precise.
The Bulldogs broke through in the first as back-to-back singles set up the opportunity for a Riley Griffin sacrifice fly, scoring Addy Higginbotham, 1-0.
Wingate stretched the advantage as Reagan Simmons went deep on the first pitch of the inning, chasing Lacey Keck (Knoxville, Tenn.). Sophomore Lorelei Spradlin (Blacksburg, Va.) came in, but the Bulldogs notched another on a single from Kaylee Hobgood, 3-0.
In the next inning, Simmons went deep for the second time in as many at-bats with a two-run shot, 5-0.
C-N would cut into the lead with a run in the bottom half of the third, as Malyiah Smith singled and stole second before Macauley Bailey drove her in on a base hit, 5-1.
The lead would be further trimmed after two straight scoreless frames from Spradlin. With one out, Bailey doubled before scoring off an error during an Anne Marie Richards single. Then, Addie Saunders energized the crowd with a triple to bring Richards home, 5-3.
However, with two outs, Wingate would regain control as Hobgood singled and aided by an error, advanced to third, and Damyia McFadden scored on the play. A single from Higginbotham pushed the lead back to four, 7-3; both runs were unearned.
A lead-off from Bailey in the seventh brought the deficit down to three, but it was all the Eagles were able to put together, 7-4.
Bailey increased her career total of RBIs to 234, passing Haley Simonds' (Newberry, 2017-21) mark of 233 RBIs for the second-most all-time in South Atlantic Conference history. The senior only trails Anderson's Kayson Boatner (2019-23), who holds 239.
Carson-Newman returns to action on Saturday, March 21st, to face Anderson (19-5, 5-1). First pitch with the Trojans is slated for 1:00 p.m. from the Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Softball Complex. Both games can be seen on FloSports, heard on cneagles.com/live, or watched In the Booth on the Carson-Newman Eagle Sports Network YouTube channel.
