The Carson-Newman Baseball Team (12-7, 8-1) took over first place in the South Atlantic Conference standings with a doubleheader sweep of Lenoir-Rhyne (5-16, 1-8), 8-2 and 4-3, Sunday at the Silver Diamond Complex. Both contests were seven innings.

Game One - Carson-Newman 8, Lenoir-Rhyne 2
The Eagles' Kevin Franchetti (Highland, Ind.) hit two home runs and finished with five runs batted in to lead Carson-Newman to the victory.
Franchetti opened the scoring with a two-run home run in the bottom of the second inning and added a two-run round-tripper in Carson-Newman's half of the sixth.
The Bears scored twice in the top of the fifth inning to cut the margin to 5-2 on run-scoring singles from junior second baseman Mike Gasque (Mebane, N.C.) and senior outfielder Rai Robinson (Kings Mountain, N.C.) but were held scoreless the rest of the way.
Carson-Newman's Alex Britt (Salisbury, N.C.) improved to 3-1 on the season with the complete-game victory as he struck out eight batters while senior Christian Hicks (Charlotte, N.C.) (0-3) took the loss for Lenoir-Rhyne. David Martin was 0-3.
Game Two - Carson-Newman 4, Lenoir-Rhyne 3
Franchetti broke a 3-3 tie with the game-winning RBI double in the bottom of the sixth inning as the Eagles completed the sweep of the Bears. Lenoir-Rhyne took a 3-2 advantage with three runs in the fifth highlighted by junior second baseman Nate Martin's (Lansing, N.Y.) two-run single.
Carson-Newman's Daniel Sharp (Johnson City, Tenn.) (1-0) was credited with the win while L-R senior Jared Carroll (Bladenboro, N.C.) fell to 1-2 with the loss. Martin did not play in game two.
Lenoir-Rhyne, looking to snap a seven-game losing streak, plays on the road against Montreat in Montreat, N.C., on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. Carson-Newman hosts Alabama-Huntsville in a doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.

Photo Courtesy: Mike Gasque, L-R Athletics