Carson-Newman Baseball Game Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – In a rematch of the South Atlantic Conference Championship game from 2013, the Carson-Newman Eagles (10-6, 5-4 SAC) play host to the Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters (8-4-1, 6-1 SAC) for a three-game series this weekend. The first game of the series is Friday at 2 p.m. with a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday afternoon beginning at noon. 

"We talked about energy and enthusiasm," head coach Tom Griffin said of the preparation for the weekend. "We didn't play as well mentally. We have to work on a couple things, but we need to play with confidence." 

The Eagles have lost three of their last four ball games and are coming off of their first home loss of the season against Belmont Abbey on Wednesday when Griffin used nine different pitchers. 

During the stretch, Carson-Newman pitching has allowed a season-high 15 hits against Tusculum last Saturday and walked a season-high eight batters against Belmont Abbey on Wednesday. 

The stretch has pushed the Eagles from the top pitching staff in the league to fifth in earned run average (3.30) and eighth in walks allowed (50). 

Junior shortstop Bryan Everhart (Greeneville, Tenn.) is fourth in the conference with three home runs and 14 RBI as he leads the team with a .367 batting average. In the last two series against Anderson and Tusculum, the infielder has driven in a combined 11 runs. 

Lincoln Memorial comes to the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex having won seven straight games with a tie sandwiched in the middle due to darkness. The Railsplitters pitching staff has walked just 26 batters in 106 innings this season, the second-fewest in the conference. 

The offense has not caught up to the pitching staff yet this season as the Railsplitters are hitting .248 as a team, the lowest team average in the SAC. Despite the low average, Lincoln Memorial is sixth in the conference with a .360 on-base percentage. 

"I think they scrap for a lot of stuff," Griffin said of Lincoln Memorial. "They have a couple seniors right now that are looking to continue the trend of winning. Some of their guys are very dangerous." 

Kelvin Brito leads the team with a .372 batting average with a home run and 11 RBI this season while Josh Coker has three home runs, ten RBI and a .318 average. 

Carson-Newman holds a 28-23 advantage in the all-time series, but Lincoln Memorial won three out of five in 2013 including a 9-4 victory in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament Championship game on April 21. 

"We have not played our best baseball," Griffin said of the early portion of the season. "It's encouraging as a coach in one way. The disappointing thing is when are we going to put it together with offense, pitching and defense. We have to find that consistency." 

Coverage begins Friday afternoon at 1:50 p.m. on the Eagle Sports Network with each game being broadcasted in high definition this weekend at cneagles.com/live.

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