Softball drops doubleheader at Carson-Newman

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. --- The Tusculum College softball team was dealt two losses by Carson-Newman University on Wednesday afternoon. The Eagles won the first game 9-1 before taking the second contest 7-6 with a walkoff single.

TC falls to 19-21 overall and 7-13 in the South Atlantic Conference. C-N improves to 34-10 overall and 16-4 in the league while clinching the 2015 SAC Championship.

Tusculum will be back in action in its regular season finale on Saturday against Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, North Carolina. First pitch in the twinbill is set for 2 p.m.

Bri Lockett went 4-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs to lead Carson-Newman to the game one victory by a 9-1 score in six innings.

Robin Stoner had a hit and drove in the lone Pioneer run, while Brooke Rhodes reached base twice via a triple and walk. Taylor Lewis also had a hit and scored a run.

The Eagles' Sarah Howard (8-4) pitched the complete game and struck out five with a walk and just one earned run. Pioneer starter Rachel Medley (8-11) took the loss after pitching just two innings and surrendering four earned runs on six hits and a walk while recording a strikeout.

After two scoreless innings to start the game, TC jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the third. Lewis opened the frame with a bunt single and then advanced to second on the play after a throwing error by Howard. Stoner stepped up to the plate with two outs and brought home Lewis with a single to right center.

The Eagles provided the rest of the offense for the remainder of the contest starting with a four-run bottom of the third to take a three run advantage. TC put runners in scoring position in the fourth on a double by Treslyn Reese and in the fifth on Rhodes' triple, but neither could come around to score.

Meanwhile the Eagles added two runs to their lead in the fourth and a solo run in the fifth to take a 7-1 advantage to the sixth. Lockett homered to open the frame before Lindsay Dean hit an RBI single later in the inning that ended the game an inning early with the score at 9-1.

Dean and Brooke Ramsey both finished the game 2-for-4 at the plate while each driving in two runs.

Hayley Burnett drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning that capped a second three-run comeback in the Eagles' 7-6 win that earned a sweep of the doubleheader. Stoner had a two-run homer for the Pioneers while Kaytlin Stroinski had a pair of RBIs.

TC jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Carolyn Williamson was hit with a pitch and then advanced to second on a passed ball by starter Cassie Lyons. In the next at bat, Stoner smashed her first homer of the season to put the initial two runs of the game on the board. Following the long ball, Stroinski was hit by a pitch and then came all the way around to score from first on a double by Reese.

After C-N got a run back in the bottom of the second, it tied the game at 3-3 with a two-run homer by Elayna Siebert in its half of the third. However, the Pioneers answered with its second three-run inning of the game in the top of the fourth.

Nicole Ball began the frame with a leadoff walk and was bunted over to second by Alix Kruel. TC loaded the bases on back-to-back singles by Jenna Restivo and Rhodes before Williamson was hit by her second pitch of the game. That earned her an RBI and give TC a 4-3 lead. Two batters later, Stroinski drove in two runs with a single back up the middle that gave the Pioneers its three-run advantage back at 6-3.

Once again though, the Eagles came charging back. After single runs in their halves of the fourth and fifth, they trailed by just one heading to the decisive bottom of the seventh. After a leadoff single and a sac bunt, Talisa Flame tied the game at 6-6 with a single.

Medley, who entered the game in relief of starter Cayla Cecil in the sixth, struck out Dean but walked Kristen Toppel as Flamed advanced to third on a wild pitch. Burnett then stepped up and drove in the winning run with a single over the head of Ball at third base.

Sarah Howard (9-4) earned the win after pitching three and a third innings in relief with no hits and two strikeouts. Medley was charged with her second loss of the day after allowing two earned runs on three hits in one and two thirds innings in the circle.