Carson-Newman Baseball Game Notes
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The boys of summer are back in action for the as the Carson-Newman Eagles start the 2015 season with a trip to the Limestone Saints Wednesday afternoon for a 2 p.m. first pitch at Founders FCU Stadium.
After a 2014 season that saw head coach Tom Griffin's group go 21-25 and finish eighth in the South Atlantic Conference, a team littered with seven seniors is looking to exceed expectations that saw the Eagles picked sixth in the preseason conference coaches poll.
Carson-Newman returns six starting position players from a season ago, two weekend starting pitchers and a pair of backend relievers. Seven of the team's top eight hitters in terms of batting average return while the top four hurlers in terms of earned run average are back.
Senior Bo Ausmus (Jefferson City, Tenn.) is expected to lead the Eagles' offensive attack. The preseason first team All-SAC selection hit safely in the final eight games of 2014 in a year that saw him have separate hitting streaks of 11 and 12 games.
Senior righthander Logan Shaftner (Lexington, Ky.) is expected to take the hill as the game's starting pitcher for the Eagles. The 6-foot-4 hurler made six relief appearances a season ago after transferring from Northwestern State going 1-0 while not allowing a run in six innings pitched.
Limestone and Carson-Newman are squaring off on the diamond for the 21st time with the series deadlocked at 10 games apiece. Since Griffin took over in 2006, the Eagles have a 7-5 advantage in the series that includes the two sides winning on their home fields in 2014.
Carson-Newman won 6-3 at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex on February 18 while Limestone took a 4-2 contest on April 1. All seven runs that the Eagles conceded in the series came off of the bullpen.
In Griffin's first nine seasons, the Eagles are 3-6 in season openers, all of which came at Augusta State in a weekend series.
Limestone finished the 2014 campaign 21-30 with an 8-13 mark and a fifth place finish in Conference Carolinas having lost its final seven contest of the year. The Saints placed a pair of players on the All-Conference second team list in outfielder Chad Balderman who has graduated and first basemen Kyle Booth.
Balderman was 10th in the league a season ago in hits while his 10 home runs were third in the conference. Booth hit .355 a year ago with three dingers and 34 RBI.
The Saints pitching staff was in the middle of the pack a year ago ranking fifth in team ERA at 5.39 while walking the third-most batters in the league a year ago at 186 in 416 innings pitched.
Live stats will be available by clicking here for the 2 p.m. first pitch.
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