Carson-Newman Baseball Outlasts Lenoir-Rhyne, 14-8
March 9, 2012
L-R junior Dalton Hall led the Bears with a two-run home run and three runs batted in
 Lenoir-Rhyne junior shortstop Dalton Hall hit a two-run home run and drove in three runs despite a 14-8 setback to Carson-Newman Friday evening in a league contest at Bears Field. |
Hickory, N.C. - The Carson-Newman College Baseball Team (10-12, 6-4) defeated Lenoir-Rhyne University (5-20, 2-8), 14-8, Friday night in a South Atlantic Conference contest at Bears Field.
The Eagles' Kyle Koeneman (Seymour, Tenn.) hit two home runs and finished with five runs batted in to lead Carson-Newman's attack.
Koeneman hit a three-run home run in the top of the second inning and the Eagles led by a 5-0 score before the Bears rallied to tie the game at five after four innings of play.
Each team plated a single run in the fifth inning before Koeneman highlighted a three-run sixth inning for the Eagles with his second home run of the night, a two-run round-tripper.
Carson-Newman held a 10-6 lead before Lenoir-Rhyne junior shortstop Dalton Hall (Hickory, N.C.) hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to cut the margin to 10-8 but the Eagles put the contest away with a four-run ninth inning. Hall drove in a team-high three runs.
Zach Long (Jefferson City, Tenn.) added three hits and three runs batted in for the Eagles, who finished with 18 hits in the win. Long also had the game-winning RBI triple in the sixth for Carson-Newman.
Junior outfielder Rai Robinson (Kings Mountain, N.C.) and freshman third baseman Mike Mastroberti (Ramsey, N.J.) each drove in a run for the Bears despite the loss.
On the mound, Carson-Newman's Daniel Sharp (Johnson City, Tenn.) improved to 1-1 with the win while Ryan Fillers (Greeneville, Tenn.) earned his third save of the season. For L-R, junior Christian Hicks (Charlotte, N.C.) (1-2) suffered the loss.
Lenoir-Rhyne and Carson-Newman wrap up the conference weekend series on Saturday with a doubleheader at Bears Field beginning at 1:00 p.m.
