Carson-Newman Baseball Game Notes
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Tuesday afternoon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex, the Carson-Newman Eagles (2-2) will play host to the King Tornado (1-4) for a 2 p.m. first pitch.
The beginning of the 2015 campaign has displayed a strong pitching staff for head coach Tom Griffin. It usually takes the bats time to wake up, but the Eagles' hurlers have come out shoving to begin the season.
Through four games, the Eagles have a 1.64 earned run average as they slowed out the Catawba Indians over the weekend. A team that averaged roughly seven runs per game in 2014, Catawba left Mossy Creek with just 10 runs in the three-game series.
Opponents are hitting just .175 against the pitching staff this year as Carson-Newman has walked just seven men in 38.1 innings pitched while striking out 35 men so far this season.
A big reason for the success has been the ability to buckle down when runners do reach base against the Eagles this season. Opponents 10-for-55, a .182 batting average, this season with runners on base.
Carson-Newman is looking to keep things rolling on the bump as King comes to town for the 19th meeting between the two programs. The Eagles hold a 12-6 advantage in the all-time series with each team winning on the road in a home-and-home series in 2014.
In the last contest, the Eagles committed a program-record six errors in 15-5 loss at Smokies Park on April 2. King scored a run in every inning except for the third inning. Carson-Newman mustered eight hits in the game with only one going for extra bases as Brandon Roberts (Davie, Fla.) and Peter Rajkovich each had two hits on the night.
Senior righthander Logan Shaftner (Lexington, Ky.) will take the mound for the Eagles Tuesday looking to build upon a strong first career start. Against Limestone on February 4, Shaftner went 5.2 innings of one-run, four-hit baseball in a no-decision. The game against the Saints went 14 innings as Carson-Newman used seven hurlers in the contest.
The contest will be broadcast in high definition by visiting cneagles.com/live will pregame coverage beginning 10 minutes prior to the first pitch on the Eagle Sports Network.
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