Carson-Newman Baseball Game Notes
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Eagles (8-7) return to the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex for the first time since February 10 to take on the Bluefield State Blues (3-2) Tuesday afternoon for a 2 p.m. first pitch.
The Eagles have lost four in a row including a sweep to Tusculum over the weekend where they dropped each game by a single run. A quick turnaround gives Carson-Newman a chance to get back to its winning ways.
"Nothing changes with our protocol and how we are going to do stuff," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "We have a way of doing things and nothing is going to change with that. It will be business as usual [Monday] and we will worry about the next pitch."
The Eagles are 8-3 all-time against the Blues which includes a pair a blow outs a season ago in Mossy Creek. Carson-Newman won game one on March 18 by 15 runs, 18-3. Griffin's group cranked out 21 hits, the third-most in program history in the contest. The big inning came in the fifth frame as the Eagles saw eight men cross the plate in the inning. It was a season-high inning in terms of runs for the Eagles as 13 men came to the plate. Four players had three hits in the game while three others had two knocks in the contest. Joe Tipton (Dandridge, Tenn.) and Bryan Everhart (Greeneville, Tenn.) each had three RBI in the win.
Game two of the series saw seven players drive in runs in an 18-1 victory. Bluefield State mustered only five hits on the day as the Eagles exploded for seven runs in the first inning. Four hurlers out of the bullpen combined for four flawless frames with five strikeouts. One of those pitchers, Logan Shaftner (Lexington, Ky.), will start Tuesday's game for Carson-Newman. Shaftner has earned a victory in his last two starts with the most recent coming on February 18.
Bluefield State finished the 2014 season 9-36 as the team tallied a .249 batting average and a 7.58 earned run average. The team's leading returning hitter, Justin Bowler, hit .307 with 11 doubles and 26 RBI last year.
Tuesday's game can be seen and hear by visiting cneagles.com/live as pregame coverage begins five minutes prior to the first pitch on the Eagle Sports Network.
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