VIDEO: Tom Griffin and Frankie Delgado Postgame Press Conference
BELMONT, N.C. – For the second straight day at the NCAA Tournament, #26 Carson-Newman (37-19) was unable to hold on to a narrow margin, falling 4-2 to #22 North Georgia (40-17) on Friday afternoon at Abbey Yard.
“Credit to Coach Cantrell and the work he has done at North Georgia,” Carson-Newman head coach Tom Griffin said. “A lot of opportunities that we lost in this game. It’s tough to lose like this late. It was a microcosm of yesterday. Scored early and just could not find ways to add runs after that. Credit to their pitchers, they settled in. I’m proud of our seniors and what they have established and what they have done with our culture. They represent our program very well on and off the field. Very encouraged about the nucleus coming back.”
Of the 17 full innings played in C-N’s two NCAA Tournament games this weekend, Carson-Newman led for 12 of those but came up empty-handed in the program’s first NCAA appearance in 17 years.
Carson-Newman entered this weekend 33-2 when leading after seven innings and went 0-2 at the NCAA Tournament.
Seven of C-N’s eight hits in the game came from three players. Cole Nathan (Knoxville, Tenn.) had a team-high three in four at bats, while Aiden Gibson (Cleveland, Tenn.) and Logan Floyd (Adairsville, Ga.) each went two for four.
The Eagles would score in the top of the first thanks to two-out hitting. Logan Floyd (Adairsville, Ga.) and Aiden Gibson (Cleveland, Tenn.) both singled and Tanner Kilgore (Kingsport, Tenn.) was hit by a pitch to load the bases. On a 1-1 pitch, Nathan gave C-N the early lead, poking a fly ball to right field to plate two runs for the Eagles.
UNG would threaten to strike back in the bottom half of the opening inning. A one-out double and a throwing error put two runners in scoring position with one out. C-N starter Jackson Underwood (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) would escape the jam with a strikeout and fly to end the frame.
Opportunities for both offenses would be very limited over the next six full innings of baseball.
Floyd doubled for C-N in the third inning with one out but was left in scoring position.
Underwood was fantastic after the first inning jam. He retired a game-high ten straight batters from innings 1-4. The stretch ended with a pair of UNG two-out singles, but both of those runners were left on base.
After both teams went down in order in the fifth inning, C-N would get the next good opportunity to add to its lead. Gibson singled with two outs but was thrown out at third after Nathan’s single that followed, ending any threat in the sixth.
Underwood allowed a baserunner in the sixth but had minimal issues tossing a sixth consecutive scoreless inning.
He continued his best outing of the year into the seventh, tossing his fourth 1-2-3 inning to keep Carson-Newman in the lead after seven frames.
UNG’s offense woke up in the eighth inning. A bloop single into left field got the leadoff batter on base for the Nighthawks for the first time in the game. Next up was the Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year Andrew Opata, who lifted a 0-1 breaking ball over the left field wall to tie the game at two.
Underwood’s day was over after that, and in came Andrew Bench. On his first pitch out of the pen, Jace Bowen also hit a soft floater into no mans land in the outfield for a base hit. Next batter Phillip Ard changed the game, launching his 23rd home run of the year to lift UNG in front 4-2 in the eighth inning.
Carson-Newman would bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth. Nathan collected his third single of the game with one out, but that would be C-N’s only runner in the final half inning.
Underwood took a no-decision in his longest outing as an Eagle. In seven innings of work, he allowed two earned runs on five hits and struck out three.
UNG starting pitcher Matthew Heard also took a no-decision, tossing seven innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts. Zach Green threw two scoreless innings to earn his fourth win of the season.
The loss ends C-N’s 2025 campaign. It’s a season filled with many remarkable achievements, headlined by finishing the year at the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in school history. The 37 wins are the fourth-most in a single season in program history and the second-most under Griffin. Carson-Newman won a program-best 21 games in South Atlantic Conference and produced its best winning percentage in SAC play in school history. It also won its first 10 games, the program’s best start to a season and achieved the best home start to a year winning the first 10 home games of 2025.
“I thought our chemistry this year was great,” Griffin said. “This group had that special connection. Their chemistry, work ethic and buying into the culture on and off the field were all important factors that led to this success. They did an exceptional job with that.”