NEWBERRY, SC – Aaron Shaffer drove in six runs including his second grand slam of the season to lead top-seeded Carson-Newman College over No. 8 seed Newberry College 8-5 Thursday afternoon in the first round of the 2002 South Atlantic Conference Tournament. The double-elimination tournament is being held at Kirkland Field in conjunction with the Food Lion SAC Spring Sports Festival hosted by Newberry and Presbyterian College.

The Eagles (36-15) rallied from behind twice and took the first lead of the game with Shaffer’s grand slam in the seventh inning to break a 4-4 tie. C-N trailed 4-3 heading into the inning before Jason Southerland led off with a solo home run to left field to tie the contest. Newberry starter Jeff Wicker (5-6) got the next two batters out, but Ryan Haun reached on a single and Jim Higgins and Wes Ward followed with walks to load the bases setting the plate for Shaffer who sent a blast over the left center field wall.

Carson-Newman (ranked 21st in NCAA Division II) will face in-state rival Tusculum College (No. 4 seed) Friday morning at 9 a.m. in a winner’s bracket semifinal game at Kirkland Field. Newberry will face No. 5 seeded Lenoir-Rhyne College at 9 a.m. Friday morning at Bill Harvey Field on the campus of Newberry High School.

Newberry got on the board first in the third inning when they plated two runs. Wade Roof led off with a double and scored on Gilmore Stevens one-out single. Steven stole second and crossed the plate himself on Alex Kellner’s RBI single to the gap in left. The Indians (16-38) made it a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning when Gene Dotson drew a two-out walk and scored on Stuart Kay’s double down the left field line.

C-N scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth as Ward singled and Shaffer drove in his first run of the double of the day with his 14th double of the year. The Eagles tied the game in the sixth inning with two runs as Shaffer drove home Higgins on his groundout and Heath Mason’s two-out double scored Ward to tie the game at 3-3.

The Indians retook the lead in the seventh as Travis Moore hit his third homer of the year, coming off of C-N starter Matt Huskey (13-1). Following the Eagles’ five-run outburst in the seventh, NC’s first three batters reached with hits including Kellner’s RBI single to cut the deficit to 8-5. But pinch hitter Dustin Smith hit a liner to the right side that was stabbed by first baseman Jason Southerland who doubled off the runner at first base for two crucial outs to get out of the inning and end the Newberry threat.

Eagle bullpen ace Ryan West sent the Indians down in order in the ninth as C-N won their seventh game in a row. Four Eagles recorded multi-hit games including Higgins, Ward, Shaffer and Mason. Kellner led the Indians going 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI.

Food Lion SAC Spring Sports Festival - Game Two
Newberry College vs Carson-Newman
Apr 25, 2002 at Newberry, S.C. (Kirkland Field)

Newberry College 5 (16-38)              Carson-Newman 8 (36-15)
Player                     AB R H BI    Player                     AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Gilmore Stevens lf......... 4 1 1 1     Jim Higgins 2b............. 4 2 2 0
Ryan Bessinger 2b.......... 4 1 1 0     Wes Ward c................. 3 3 2 0
Alex Kellner c............. 4 0 3 2     Aaron Shaffer lf........... 4 1 2 6
Carlos Gonzalez rf......... 3 0 1 0     Heath Mason rf............. 4 0 2 1
Dean Walker dh............. 3 0 0 0     Jared Hubbard ss........... 4 0 1 0
Dustin Smith ph...........  1 0 0 0     Jason Southerland 1b....... 4 1 1 1
Gene Dotson cf............. 3 1 0 0     Jason Lineberger dh........ 3 0 0 0
Wade Roof ss............... 4 1 1 0     Nathan Gravley cf.......... 3 0 0 0
Travis Moore 1b............ 4 1 1 1     Ryan Haun 3b............... 4 1 1 0
Jeff Wicker p.............. 0 0 0 0     Matt Huskey p.............. 0 0 0 0
 Tyson Azevedo p........... 0 0 0 0      Ryan West p............... 0 0 0 0
Totals.................... 34 5 9 5     Totals.....................33 8 11 8

Score by Innings                   R  H E
-------------------------------------------
Newberry College.... 002 100 110 - 5  9 1
Carson-Newman....... 000 102 50X - 8 11 0
-------------------------------------------

E - Stevens, G.(5). DP - Indians 1; Eagles 1. LOB - Indians 4; Eagles 5. 2B -
Bessinger, R(11); Kay, S.(7); Roof, W.(7); Shaffer(14); Mason(23). HR - Moore,
T.(3); Shaffer(14); Southerland(14). HBP - Gravley. SB - Stevens, G.(16); Kellner,
A.(9); Mason(10); Tebow(2).

Newberry College            IP  H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeff Wicker L,5-6......... 6.2 11 8  7  2  2  1  0  0  0  29 31  8  8
Tyson Azevedo .............1.1  0 0  0  1  2  0  0  1  0   4  6  1  1

Carson-Newman               IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Matt Huskey W,13-1........ 8.0 9 5  5  2  3  0  0  0  0  31 33  5 14
Ryan West .................1.0 0 0  0  0  1  0  0  0  0   3  3  1  1

WP - Wicker, J.(11). HB - Azevedo, T.. PB - Kellner, A.(3).
Strikeouts - Roof, W. 2; Moore, T. 2; Hubbard; Southerland; Linebarger; Haun. Walks
- Gonzalez, C.; Dotson, G.; Higgins; Ward; Linebarger.

Start: 1:03 pm Time: 2:10 Attendance: 231