April 12, 2008

Final Stats

JEFFERSON CITY, TN - The Carson-Newman baseball team secured at least a second place finish in the South Atlantic Conference regular season standings Saturday with a doubleheader sweep of visiting Lenoir-Rhyne at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex. The Eagles pounded out ten hits - including six doubles - to take the opener by a 9-2 margin, and then came back with an 11-hit effort in the nightcap to record a 7-2 victory.

"This was big," said Carson-Newman head coach Tom Griffin of the sweep. "Offensively, Lenoir-Rhyne has a good club, so that's why I think our pitching was solid today. Getting ready for the tournament, you want to finish strong down the stretch, and I think today we really did that."

Carson-Newman improved to 13-6 in the SAC with the pair of victories, 35-14 overall. The Eagles came into the weekend one game behind league-leading Catawba in the loss column. Lenoir-Rhyne fell to 10-10 and 21-17, respectively.

The two teams will return tomorrow afternoon to finish the three-game series, with a scheduled start time of 1 p.m.

Game one

Reigning SAC Pitcher of the Week Brett Hontz (Newtown Square, Penn.) improved to 9-1 on the year as he led the Eagles to victory in game one. The senior allowed just two runs on six hits while striking out eight Lenoir-Rhyne batters.

"The pitching was outstanding today," said Griffin. "Brett Hontz has been good all year, and he came out and really got after it and set the tone for us. When he is on the hill, we are very confident."

Cory McGinnis (Morristown, Tenn.) led the Carson-Newman offensive assault with a 3-for-4 effort at the plate, including a pair of doubles and three runs scored. Catcher Jonathan McMahon (Charlotte, N.C.) had a pair of hits in the game, and also scored twice.

The Eagles broke a scoreless game with three runs in the third inning, coming with the help of three hits and two Lenoir-Rhyne errors. McGinnis and Mills Rogers (Simpsonville, S.C) both scored unearned runs, before Jason Gray (Rutledge, Tenn.) doubled in McMahon.

Carson-Newman scored two runs in each of the next three innings to jump out to a commanding 9-0 advantage.

Hunter Glass connected on a solo home run in the eighth to give the Bears their first run of the game. Zachary Glass doubled home Daniel Ford in the ninth to make the final score.

Ford and Zachary Glass were the only two Lenoir-Rhyne players to have multiple hits in the game, as both went 2-for-4. Chris Henderson took the loss for the Bears, allowing five runs (three earned) on six hits in four innings of work. Brandon Padgett pitched the final four innings in relief.

Game two

Carson-Newman continued its hitting barrage in the second game, using a five-run second inning to jump out to a 6-0 lead.

After a sacrifice fly by Wesley Dozier (Cornelius, N.C.) put the Eagles on the board in the first inning, Jason Gray (Rutledge, Tenn.) came through with a bases-loaded triple to push the margin to 4-0. McMahon and Dozier added RBI singles later in the frame.

Lenoir-Rhyne cut the margin to 6-2 in the sixth on run-scoring hits by Ford and Evan Taylor. However, with two on and one out, relief pitcher Dustin Dalton struck out Zachary Glass and McMahon fired down to third to catch Ford off the base to end the inning.

Langdon Potts (Dandridge, Tenn.) tripled to lead off the sixth, and was brought in on a McGinnis double to make the final score.

Gray finished the game 3-for-3 with three runs batted in for the Eagles. Rogers had a pair of hits at the plate. Ford and Randall Shepherd were each 2-for-3 for the Bears.

Corbin Arial (Elgin, S.C.) recorded the win for the Eagles, giving up two runs on six hits in 5.1 innings of work. Dalton came on to work the final 1.2 innings, allowing just one hit.

Adam Hart was tagged with the loss after making it just one inning. Josh Keller came on with no outs recorded in the second inning, after Hart had allowed five runs.