Carson-Newman Baseball Game Notes
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman baseball team (19-15) will honor nine seniors over a three-game series with the Winston-Salem State Rams (22-9) this weekend at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex. Game on of the series is set for 3 p.m. on Friday with a doubleheader wrapping things up beginning at noon on Saturday.
"The character of these guys on and off the field is so impressive," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "More importantly, you hope they continue to develop and I think they've been a great example for our younger players. I think they have followed a great lead of past players as far as their character, how they handle themselves on and off the field, how they treat people and how they serve people. I think they've shown we definitely feel like they are prepared leaving Carson-Newman University to do whatever they are doing in their next step."
Senior leftfielder Bo Ausmus (Jefferson City, Tenn.) was a second team All-South Atlantic Conference selection in 2014 and has been one of the best players in program history in recent memory. A career .319 batter, Ausmus has 24 home runs and 128 runs batted in over his career and has led the team in a multitude of offensive categories since his sophomore season. This year, the Jefferson City native is hitting .348 with a team-high five home runs and 29 RBI while ranking 42nd nationally with 13 doubles.
Senior reliever Carson Bryant (Fletcher, N.C.) has tallied a 2.86 earned run average over two seasons in Mossy Creek with five saves and a pair of victories. The righthander leads the team with four saves while compiling a 2.89 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 28 innings pitched.
Senior reliever Michael Cogliano (Medford, N.J.) has led the Eagles in total appearances since stepping on campus last year accumulating a total of 39 total games with three wins and a 3.32 ERA. This year, the righthander leads the team with 18 appearances while punching out 41 batters.
Senior catcher J.D. Cowart (Athens, Tenn.) has been the leader behind the plate for the Eagles over the last two years compiling 39 starts in his 54 games played. A career .294 batter, Cowart has tallied a .991 fielding percentage while piling up seven doubles and 13 RBI.
Senior shortstop Bryan Everhart (Greeneville, Tenn.) has started 145 games over his four-year career tallying 10 home runs and 74 RBI to go along with 26 doubles. Everhart is hitting .246 this year with three home runs and 20 RBI for the Eagles.
Senior outfielder Cody Fox (Seymour, Tenn.) is a career .292 batter having started 145 games with 12 roundtrippers and 70 RBI. Fox is batting .280 this year with two dingers and eight RBI despite battling an ankle injury.
Senior first basemen Evan Jurjevic (New Carlisle, Ind.) is having a breakout campaign in his senior season batting .402 with three home runs and a team-high 16 doubles and 30 RBI. The 16 doubles this season are seventh-best among Division II players on the year. Jurjevic is a career .329 batter having played in 137 games with six home runs and 69 RBI.
Senior starter Logan Shaftner (Lexington, Ky.) has played a big role in his final season in East Tennessee going 3-1 in nine games and 43.2 innings pitched. In 15 overall games in a Carson-Newman jersey, Shaftner has a 4-1 record with 4.71 ERA.
Senior starter Quinton Yocom (Cable, Ohio) has been the ace of the pitching staff since walking on campus accumulating an 8-9 record and a 4.01 ERA in 34 total games. The righty has struck out 145 batters in 182 innings pitched over three seasons. On February 24 of this season, Yocom was named the SAC Pitcher of the Week for the first time after blanking Anderson.
There was a time this season where the Eagles needed the leadership losing 10 of 11 during a stretch in March including six one-run games. The coaching staff put the team on the seniors' shoulders and Carson-Newman has responded with wins in 10 of its last 12 contests.
"They've taken ownership of the team," Griffin said. "We've given that to them and they've done a nice job controlling things on and off field. I think that's the big example, to be able to overcome however many one-run games we had consistently there in the middle of the year and yet still battle through and not let that linger, but to change attitude, thought process and not panic on it."
Winston-Salem State has been nationally ranked at times this year and plays in the five-team Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association. It is the final weekend this year at home with three-game series against Newberry and Wingate awaiting the Eagles.
"Kevin [Ritsche] has a done a great job over there in being regionally-ranked and being very competitive," Griffin said. "It's a very good club. I think there is a natural tendency to let the shoulders down and relax a little bit because there isn't that win-at-all costs [mentality]. We've got to make sure that we are still attacking."
The Rams are 2-3 this year against SAC schools including three straight losses to Lenoir-Rhyne and two to Catawba including a 19-1 decision Wednesday night.
Seven players have a .300 or better batting average this season led by a .364 clip from Conner Andrus to lead a group that has scored more runs, 200, than anyone else in the CIAA.
The pitching staff has struck out 230 and walked 125 on the season, both tallies that lead the CIAA on the season.
All three games against Winston-Salem State will be broadcast in video and audio by visiting cneagles.com/live courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network.
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