Hartsville, SC - The Coker University Baseball Team defeated Carson Newman on Saturday (April 22) to open up their weekend series.

Starting the day off with poor weather but high spirits, Coker jumped on top of Carson Newman quickly and scored 3 runs in the bottom of the first inning. Zach Wall, batting a current .289, singled into right field and was able to bring Kody Hanna and Nick Leonard home. The Cobras only continued to gain momentum headed into the bottom of the second and scored another three runs; Eli Hopkins, Jaylen Mack, and Caleb McCants all crossing home plate with ease. Carson wouldnt let these runs go answered and posted two of their own runs. Undeterred by lighteninig delays and a few runs against them, Coker continued to run the score up another five runs between the fifth and seventh innings. Nick Leonard, a powerhouse hitter on any given day, homered not once but twice and raised the Cobra's energy to another level. Still hungry, Kody Hanna was brough home on a base hit from Zach Wall and took Coker's lead up by 10. Bases loaded, Jacob Yarberry smashed a pitch right up his alley over the fence for a grandslam and sealed the game at a score of 17-3. 

Out of the 42 at bats, Coker picked up 20 hits and 17 RBI's, Nick Leonard leading his team in both. Caleb McCants, Jacob Yarberry, Nick Leonard, Zach Wall, and Jaylen Mack all registered RBI's throughout the game. 

Between the nine inning game, Aaron Diaz and Reid Watkins faced a total of 40 batters. Diaz threw 66 strikes out of 110 pitches while Watkins threw 17 strikes out of 30 pitches.

The Cobras will be returning to the field on Sunday (April 23) in a double header against Carson Newman. This first pitch is set to be thrown at 12 PM and senior day celebrations will be taking place at 11:15 AM beforehand. Live stats and streaming will be available at www.cokercobras.com