Hensley’s heroics help Eagles to doubleheader sweep of Newberry
Carson-Newman (24-12, 8-4 South Atlantic Conference) found some pop at the plate in crucial situations from a youthful source. Freshman outfielder Kelli Hensley (Knoxville, Tenn.) laid down a perfectly executed suicide squeeze and knocked in a game winning run to help the Eagles to a doubleheader sweep of Newberry (15-17, 3-9 SAC) Friday afternoon at the Lady Eagle Softball Complex.
Carson-Newman won game one 7-2 before taking game two 2-1 thanks to Hensley’s game winning double down the rightfield line.
“Everytime she does that, I think, ‘She’s a freshman,’” Carson-Newman head softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. “That little kid’s got some pop in her bat and she’s certainly capable of that.”
Hensley was four-of-eight at the dish for the day including three RBI.
Much of the doubleheader was played under a steady rainshower, which Kazee-Hollifield said led to some tough conditions in which to field balls.
“It wasn’t pretty, like my hair,” A rain-soaked Kazee-Hollifield said. “But we got timely hits, especially in that last inning. We didn’t hit the ball the like we were capable of, but the kids pulled that one through.”
Game one: Carson-Newman 7, Newberry 2
Carson-Newman took advantage of some early Wolves miscues and added some insurance later to cruise to a game one win.
Carson-Newman plated two runs in the bottom of the first without hitting the ball. Newberry pitcher Kaylyn Camacho walked the bases loaded before walking in a run. A fielding error by Casey Stephens at short on a popup by Sara Kelley (Ooltewah, Tenn.) allowed Brittany Hefner (Talbot, Tenn.) to come across and make it a 2-0 game.
The Eagle got the merry-go-round going in the fourth with a four-run frame thanks to a double from Bethany Davis (Nicholasville, Ky.), a triple from Jessica Morgan (Ooltewah, Tenn.) and a Hensley single to short. All three hits drove in a run before the Wolves could record their first out.
Hefner drove in Hensley with a sacrifice fly to right to make it a 7-1 ballgame. The run batted in was Hefner’s 67th of the year, bringing her within five of matching the single season school and SAC record set by Staci Fish in 2001.
Tasia Diaz proved to be a difficult out for the Eagles at the bottom of the order. The Wolves leftfielder singled twice, but scored just one run.
Kaitie Sims (Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.) went the distance for the Eagles. She scattered eight hits to improve to 14-2. Camacho took the loss to drop to 7-9.
Game two: Carson-Newman 2, Newberry 1
Newberry took a 1-0 lead in the fourth, but Carson-Newman countered with a Cassie Elliot (Johnson City, Tenn.) bomb to straightaway centerfield – her sixth home run of the season – to knot the game at one.
Newberry pitcher Shelley Jeffcoat would strand three Eagle runners over the next two innings to set the stage for Hensley’s dramatics.
After Kelley one-hopped the wall in left center to start out the seventh to put the leadoff batter in scoring position, Hensley came to the plate with one out. She grabbed a 1-1 fastball and lifted it down the rightfield line to plate Kelley without any resistance from the Wolves.
Cassie Lyons (Knoxville, Tenn.) went the distance for the Eagles, allowing the lone run across nine hits to improve to 10-10. Jeffcoat took the hard luck loss after scattering just five hits to fall to 8-7.
Weather played havoc with the field conditions all day with many ground balls dying well short of infielders.
“If somebody could build me a dome, that’d be nice,” Kazee-Hollifield said. “Game one took forever and it seemed like we got out of rhythm, but they were playing in the same weather we were, so we both had to deal with.”
The Eagles hit the road again Wednesday for a doubleheader with USC Aiken.
