April 13, 2008

Final Stats

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman pounded out three runs in the eighth inning to beat visiting Lenoir-Rhyne 10-9 on Sunday afternoon in Jefferson City. The win gives the Eagles the series sweep of the Bears and clinches the number-two seed in this week's South Atlantic Conference Tournament.

Carson-Newman (36-14, 14-6 SAC) overcame seven unearned runs in the win. Lenoir-Rhyne drops to 21-28 overall and 10-11 in the SAC.

First baseman Zach Glass (Salisbury, N.C.) gave the Bears a 1-0 lead in the second with a solo home run. The junior lined a 2-0 offering from Eagles starter Jacob Lambert (Kettle River, Minn.) out to left for his fifth blast of the year.

Carson-Newman tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the inning, as sophomore Mills Rogers (Simpsonville, S.C.) singled and later scored on a sacrifice fly by catcher Jonathan McMahon (Charlotte, N.C.).

L-R took the lead back in the top of third. J.D. Harrison (Winter Haven, Fla.) drew a one-out walk and scored and Daniel Ford (Youngstown, Ohio) lined a single to center to end Lambert's day, as Wes McIntyre (Chattanooga, Tenn.) entered from the Eagle bullpen.

Carson-Newman needed only an inning to regain the lead, taking advantage of a pair of hit batsmen by L-R starter Wes Moseley (Shreveport, La.). Senior Jason Gray (Rutledge, Tenn.) drilled a double off the wall in right-center to score McMahon and Langdon Potts (Dandridge,Tenn.) to give the Eagles a two-run lead. Potts singled home Rogers earlier in the inning with a line drive to center.

L-R again answered, posting three unearned run in the fifth to grab a 6-5 lead. Mark Drucker (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Anthony Sully (Charlotte, N.C.) each had singles to keep the inning going. The Eagles committed two errors to open the floodgates for the time being.

Sophomore Randall Shepard's (Vero Beach, Fla.) broke a 7-7 tie in the eighth with a two-run double to left center. Glass tried to give the Bears a three-run lead, but was thrown out by Rogers trying to score.

C-N would seize the game and the win with three runs in the bottom of the eighth. Rogers led off with a solo home run. The senior drove a 1-0 pitch off the top of the fence in left center for his third blast of the year, cutting the L-R lead to 9-8.

The Eagles bats stayed hot as McMahon singled and Potts tripled to tie the game at 9-9.

After a fly ball to short left by Gray for the second out, sophomore Derek Long (Jefferson City, Tenn.) beat out an infield single to score Potts and give the Eagles the 10-9 lead.

Reliever Dustin Dalton, who gave up a two-run double in a save situation in the eighth, worked a perfect ninth for the win (WP, 2-0).

Sophomore Justin Crowell (New London, N.C.) took the loss in three innings of work for the Bears. He falls to 2-6 on the year.

The second-seeded Eagles will face fifth-seeded Newberry in the first round of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament on Thursday in Hickory, North Carolina. First pitch is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. at Lenoir-Rhyne College.