Carson-Newman Baseball Game Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – It's rare that a team can boast back-to-back 18-run performances  like the Carson-Newman Eagles (15-14, 8-10 South Atlantic Conference) can do as they get set for a three-game series with the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears (6-21, 3-13 SAC). The series will begin Friday evening at Bears Field with a 6 p.m. first pitch and a doubleheader slated for a 1 p.m. start in game one.

It marked the first time Carson-Newman scored double-digit runs in consecutive contests since plating ten runs in each game against Augusta State and Pfeiffer in the first week of the 2013 campaign. The Eagles are well-aware of Lenoir-Rhyne's toughness despite a lopsided record.

"They are a very good club," head coach Tom Griffin said of this weekend's opponent. "They are well-coached, very well-prepared and fundamentally sound. We are going to have a battle. They have played very well. Their record is not an indication of how they have played."

The Eagles outscored Bluefield State in a two-game set 36-4 as Carson-Newman racked up 39 hits winning back-to-back games for the first time since a five-game winning streak from February 5 through February 11.

Tuesday's 18-1 thrashing of the Blues was the widest margin of victory for Carson-Newman since beating Presbyterian 23-4 on March 5, 2005. Seven different players drove in runs for the Eagles on Tuesday led by five RBI from junior left fielder Bo Ausmus (Jefferson City, Tenn.) who is riding a seven-game hitting streak where he has driven in nine runs and scored seven times.

"Are we going to take the same approached at the plate?" Griffin wondered about his club. "Are we going to stay on top of the baseball? We need more ground balls and backside hitting and executing our situational hitting."

Lenoir-Rhyne enters the weekend having lost 10 of its last 12 as the Bears are averaging just 2.3 runs per contest during that stretch. However, the Bears have lost five of those games by two runs or fewer. Offense has been the issue throughout the season as Lenoir-Rhyne has the worst batting average by a significant margin. The Bears have a team average of .248, 27 points lower than the team above them, Brevard.

Outfielder Ivan Vieites has been the bright spot with a .352 batting average, one home run and 12 runs batted in. Vieites has also compiled a .453 on-base percentage having walked 14 times on the season.

The pitching staff for the Bears has been sandwiched in the middle of the conference much of the season with a 4.56 earned run average, but they are the only team in the league that has walked triple-digit batters this season with 103 bases on balls issued in 209.1 innings.

The Eagles lead the all-time series 48-27 as Carson-Newman swept the Bears in Jefferson City last season the Eagles outscored the Bears 25-7. The last time the two clubs meet in Hickory, Carson-Newman took two of three games with the Eagles winning games one (14-8) and two (4-3) before dropping the third (4-3).

Each of the three games will be provided with a free audio stream by visiting cneagles.com/live with pregame coverage beginning ten minutes prior to the first pitch on the Eagle Sports Network.

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