HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The Cobra baseball scored six unanswered runs en route to a 9-3 win over Carson-Newman on Friday (Mar. 14) in game one of their three-game South Atlantic Conference series. Coker improves to 13-8 overall and 6-6 in SAC play.
The Eagles of Carson-Newman took the early lead with a pair of runs in the top of the first, but the Cobras responded with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to take a 3-2 lead. Another Eagle run in the third tied the game at three. The score stayed deadlocked for the next two innings until a two out, two run double by Ernie Kirkwood broke the tie and gave Coker a 5-3 lead.
The Cobras tacked on four more runs in the bottom of the seventh for a 9-3 advantage and the eventual win.
Matthew Prosser (4-2) earned the win on the mound allowing just three runs on three hits with four strikeouts in six innings of work.
Kirkwood was Coker's leading hitter. He went 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs, while Tyler Bires had three hits and drove in a run. Fico Kondla finished the day with two runs batted in, Shea Bell had two hits and scored a run and Sammy Song drove in a run and scored three.
The Cobras and the Eagles will complete their three-game series Saturday (Mar. 15) with a double-header beginning at noon at Coker's Tom J. New Field.
McDonald's Player of the Game – Ernie Kirkwood