Longball works for Eagles in split with Augusta State
Carson-Newman (20-10) drubbed four home runs, including a pair from the nation’s leader Brittany Hefner (Talbot, Tenn.), in a doubleheader split with Augusta State (12-18) Wednesday afternoon at Jaguar Field.
The Eagles took game one 12-7 before falling in game two 5-3.
Hefner went four-of-eight at the plate with seven RBI and five runs scored. With 65 RBI for the year, Hefner is within seven of the conference and school record for runs batted in in a single season – 72 set by C-N’s Staci Fish in 2001.
“I can’t believe people are still pitching to her, she’s just putting a bat on the ball and what a plus that is,” Carson-Newman head coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. “But it’s a team effort for her, the people in front of her are doing their job too. But she’s got to pick things up defensively.”
Kelli Hensley (Knoxville, Tenn.) pounded her first career homer going four-for-nine at the dish in the leadoff spot for the two-game set.
“It was just timing and she got extension,” Kazee-Hollfield said. “She’s really doing a solid job getting on base and setting the stage for our big bats.”
Game one: Carson-Newman 12, Augusta State 5
All four of the Eagles homers came in game one, the most unlikely happened first. Hensley, a left-handed slapper went yard to right center on the first pitch she saw to give the Eagles a 1-0 advantage. Sara Kelley (Ooltewah, Tenn.) would add another run later in the inning on a single to left that plated Hefner from second.
Augusta State raced ahead of the Eagles thanks to a four-run third that was aided and abetted by one of C-N’s four errors for the game.
“The hitting is there, but defensively and pitching we have got to get our act together in a hurry,” Kazee-Hollifield said. “When we get ground balls and fly balls in our gloves, those have to be outs. We’re not coming up with the routine plays.”
Carson-Newman cracked back with four runs in the fifth and sixth inning. The sixth saw Hefner sack her third grand slam and nation-leading 15th home run out of the park down the left field line.
Hefner needs one more grand slam to match Pittsburg State’s Emily Gastineau’s nine-year-old record of four in a year. Hefner is the fifth player in Division II history with three grand slams in a single year. She has done it in four fewer games than the next closest player, Selina Pacheco of Adams State. Pacheco hit three in 34 games as a freshman in 2010.
Kaitie Sims (Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.) took the win in the circle (12-1) after scattering seven hits. Carson-Newman handed Kristen Mills her first loss as a starting pitcher (6-1) for the Jaguars.
Game two: Augusta State 5, Carson-Newman 3
The Jaguars’ bats came to life in game two with six extra base hits – four doubles, a triple and a home run.
“When a team gets four doubles off you, that’s hard to overcome, especially when you’re making defensive miscues,” Kazee-Hollifield said. “It’s paramount we make the routine plays and pitch better because there’s going to be a time that the Lady Eagles have to win a 2-1 ball game.”
Hensley and Kelley both went two-of-four at the dish.
The Eagles tried to rally in the seventh and in fact had the tying run on second base with one out. However a strikeout and a ground out to the pitcher ended the threat before C-N could knot things up and force extra innings.
Cassie Lyons (Knoxville, Tenn.) took the loss to fall to 8-9 for the year.
The Eagles stay on the road to face league-leading Lenoir-Rhyne Saturday at 1 p.m.
