Carson-Newman Baseball Game Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Seven seniors will be honored this weekend as the Carson-Newman Eagles (20-21, 11-13 South Atlantic Conference) play host to the Wingate Bulldogs (24-14, 16-7 SAC) for a three-game series at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex beginning Friday at 3 p.m.

"These guys have done a great job all the way through," head coach Tom Griffin said of the commitment by the senior class. "These seniors have been great leaders for our younger guys about what we're going to do and how we are going to handle our business in the classroom, off the field and how we conduct ourselves on the field."

Pitcher Dustin Dunagan (Winder, Ga.), second basemen Peter Rajkovich (Stockton, Calif.), infielder Trace Rogers (Simsponville, S.C.), reliever Josh Russell (Bradenton, Fla.), reliever Daniel Sharp (Johnson City, Tenn.), pitcher Brandon Timmerman (Seymour, Tenn.) and reliever Lucas Watson (Gatlinburg, Tenn.) will all play in their final SAC home games this weekend.

That collection of players will try to help the Eagles position themselves for a top six finish in the league. Currently, Carson-Newman is tied with Newberry for sixth place, but it holds the tiebreaker over the Wolves after a series victory last weekend.

A big reason why the Eagles were successful last weekend was because of starters Vince Apicella (Dillsburg, Pa.), Quinton Yocom (Cable, Ohio) and Dunagan. The triumvirate compiled a 1.59 earned run average in 22.2 innings pitched yielding just five walks with 19 strikeouts in the series.

"This last weekend was certainly encouraging to have all three do that," Griffin said in regards to the trio finding confidence and location. "It's been since the Brevard series when we got those type of outings."

Carson-Newman ranks second in the league with a .965 fielding percentage, but in conference games, Griffin's group is No. 1 in the SAC with a .973 fielding percentage.

Having won three straight games, the Eagles tangle with a Wingate team that is currently third in the conference. The Bulldogs boast the best team ERA in the league by a wide margin. The 3.47 ERA is better than Tusculum's 3.78 ERA. Wingate has struck out a league-best 273 batters while allowing just 103 bases on balls this year, third-fewest in the SAC.

"It's a consistent group," Griffin said of the Bulldogs. "Their pitching is outstanding. They pound the strike zone and they are going to attack you. We have our work cut out for us."

The earned run average is even more impressive in conference contests as the Bulldogs have compiled a 2.94 ERA in 23 SAC games. After facing a pair of pitchers in the top five in ERA last week, Carson-Newman is faced with two more hurlers in the top five in the league. Olen Little's 1.81 ERA is third-best in the league while Ben Currie's 2.30 mark is fifth.

Offensively, Wingate is seventh in the league with a .291 batting average. Josh Clark comes into the series riding a nine-game hitting streak. Clark is hitting .336 with two home runs and 34 runs batted in.

The two programs have met 73 times prior to this weekend with Wingate holding a 39-34 lead in the series. The Eagles have lost eight consecutive games to the Bulldogs including a three-game sweep in 2013.

All three games can be seen by going to cneagles.com/live for a free video and audio stream of the weekend's events. Pregame coverage begins ten minutes prior to the first pitch of all three games.

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