Road swing begins for Eagles at Crusaders

Road swing begins for Eagles at Crusaders

Carson-Newman Baseball Game Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Eagles (22-15) close out the 2015 with the first in a stretch of eight of nine games away from Mossy Creek beginning Tuesday at Abbey Yard at 3 p.m. against the Belmont Abbey Crusaders (18-17).

"Each day you keep doing what you've been doing," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "They're in a good place right now mentally. Physically, we seem to be a good spot. The main thing is mentally they are in a good place and that's all you're looking for."

Since falling four games under .500 on March 15, Carson-Newman is 13-2 including a win in its last seven contests for its longest winning streak in five seasons. The Eagles have won eight straight nonconference outings dating back to a walk-off 7-6 loss at Lee on March 12.

Belmont Abbey is tied for fourth in Conference Carolinas this season while going 3-5 against South Atlantic Conference teams. The Crusaders are one of five teams to have a win over Catawba this season, a 7-5 decision on opening day.

Offensively, Belmont Abbey is third in its conference with a .306 batting average and 269 runs scored. Anthony Dimino has been the team leader ranking second in the league with a .439 batting average while riding a seven-game hitting streak.

On the mound, the Crusaders are second-to-last in the conference having allowed 272 runs on the year for a 6.73 team earned run average.

Tuesday's contest marks the 25th time the two programs have met with Carson-Newman holding a 15-9 advantage. The two sides split two meetings in 2014 with each team taking a victory on the road.

On February 26 at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex, Belmont Abbey won 7-4 to snap Carson-Newman's five-game home winning streak to start the season. The Crusaders cranked out 12 hits as the Eagles trailed 7-1 in the eighth inning before plating three runs in the frame.

Carson-Newman hammered out 15 hits in a 10-3 win on April 16 on Belmont Abbey's senior day. 10 different Eagles had at least one hit on the afternoon as they had hits in eight of the nine innings and scored at least one run in six separate stanzas. Vince Apicella (Dillsburg, Pa.) hurled seven scoreless innings to pick up the victory at Abbey Yard.

Tuesday's game will have a free audio stream by visiting cneagles.com/live for all of the sights and sounds from Abbey Yard.

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