Kodak, Tenn.----The top-seed Wingate University Bulldogs scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, as redshirt sophomore Andrew McKay recorded the pinch-hit walkoff RBI single in the opening round of the South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament. The Bulldogs improve to 43-6 overall, while Carson-Newman moves to the losers' bracket and drops to 28-23 overall. Wingate is looking to defend its SAC Tournament championship, capturing its seventh title in program history in 2021.
 
KEY STATS
 
- Wingate out-hit Carson-Newman 12-5
- The Bulldogs had three extra-base hits compared to the Eagles' one
- WU left 10 runners on the bases; C-N stranded four
- Each team committed two errors
- The 'Dogs stole the only base in the contest
- Wingate's struck out nine and walked none; the Eagles struck out five and walked three
 
KEY BULLDOGS
 
- McKay came into pinch hit in the bottom of the ninth, driving in the winning run from second base
- Mitch Farris went two-for-five with a double and drove in the game-tying run in the ninth
- Michael Dansky was two-for-five with a ninth-inning double and scored the game-tying run
- Logan McNeely and Isaiah Williams-Rhem each tallied an RBI
- Ricky Clark had a two-for-three day with a double and a walk
- Seaver King also had a multi-hit game
- Brody McCullough struck out seven and allowed just four hits in 7.1 innings of work
- Sam Brodersen pitched a shutout top of the ninth and got the win
 
SECOND INNING
 
- With two on and two out, Williams-Rhem singled to right field as the 'Dogs took an early lead
- King scored in the next at-bat on a failed pickoff attempt
- The Eagles doubled to lead off the bottom half
- They then scored on a throwing error on a fielder's choice, cutting the lead in half
- C-N scored on a fielding error to tie the game
- Micah Genter's RBI ground out put the Eagles up 3-2
- Harrison Travis capped the four-run inning with an RBI single to center
 
NINTH INNING
 
- Grayson Chapman drew a walk then went to third on a Dansky double to start the frame
- McNeely's RBI groundout cut the Wingate deficit to a single run
- Farris singled up the middle in the next at-bat, driving in Dansky to tie the game
- Carson-Newman recorded the second out, then Farris stole second to put the winning run in scoring position
- McKay knocked his pinch-hit walkoff single to left-center, scoring Farris and clinching the 'Dogs come-from-behind victory
 
WRAPUP
 
- Brodersen got the win, improving to 3-0 on the year
- He pitched a shutout ninth, allowing one hit and striking out one
- Hunter Harritan took the loss for C-N, allowing three runs on four hits in 0.2 innings
 
UP NEXT
 
- The Bulldogs play the loser of the Lenoir-Rhyne-Queens game that has not yet been played tomorrow at 2:45 p.m.