CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Visiting Carson-Newman University took advantage of two costly errors in the first inning and three walks and a hit batter in the second inning to jump out to a 6-0 lead and held on to post a 6-5 victory over the Lee University baseball team at Larry Carpenter Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.
The Flames battled back with a single run in the third inning, two more runs in the sixth and had the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, but the Eagles turned back the late comeback. Lee outhit the Eagles 13-7 as they suffered their third straight loss and slipped to 15-7 overall.
Coach Mark Brew will regroup his team as they get ready to return to Gulf South Conference action this weekend, traveling to Clinton, Mississippi to face Mississippi College in a three-game series. Friday's action is slated for a 4
p.m. start and Saturday's doubleheader will get underway at 1 p.m. All three games will be carried on FloCollege.
Carson-Newman moved on top 1-0 in the first inning and then scored their final runs of the game in the second. Lee's starting pitcher, Cody Turner, battled control problems for 1.1 innings. He issued four free passes and hit one batter. The Eagles put together three hits in the frame to jump out to the 6-0 lead.
Slowly, Lee came back. Luke Collier drilled a line-drive homer to left to make it a 6-1 game in the third. It was a 6-3 contest after the sixth inning when Turner walked, JJ Williams singled, Aiden McClary picked up an RBI single and Ryan Valdes doubled home McClary.
The margin was cut to 6-4 in the eighth inning, but the Flames left two big runners on base. Nate Caraballo picked up a free pass and McClary collected his third hit of the game. Valdes drove in his second run of the contest with his third hit.
The ninth inning opened with a walk to Collier. He went to second on a wild pitch and to third on a single by Turner. Williams picked up a free pass to load the bases. The Eagles went to their bullpen and called on freshman Kyle Adams. Caraballo lifted a sac fly that scored Collier. Adams got a pop-up and a strikeout to end the game and pick up the save.
Lee used seven pitchers in the loss and got good work out of the bullpen. Five of the hurlers did not give up a run, and three did not give up a hit. Turner (1-3) was charged with the loss. Carson-Newman sent six pitchers to the mound. Brock Culpepper (6-2) was called on for 2.1 frames. He gave up five hits but only two earned runs and was credited with the win. Adams got his ninth save of the year.
Colton Evans and Carson Cochran were the only Eagle hitters with two hits. Aiden Gibson drove in two runs while Johno Pierce and Seth Benner were credited with RBIs. Pierce had an outstanding game from his shortstop position.
Coach Mark Brew's thoughts:
"We played really poorly out of the gate with too many freebies on the mound and errors in the field. It ended up too much to overcome even with the late comeback. I was proud of the fight late, but we can't lay down like that early and expect to be a good team moving forward. One highlight was our bullpen held it close and gave us a chance to get back into the game."
