Carson-Newman Baseball Game Notes
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After a week hiatus, the Carson-Newman Eagles (23-15, 11-13 South Atlantic Conference) continue league action with a trip to the Smith Road Complex against the Newberry Wolves (25-16, 15-8 SAC) beginning Saturday with a doubleheader scheduled for 4 p.m. and wrapping up on Sunday at 1 p.m.
This weekend pits the two hottest teams in the SAC with Carson-Newman riding an eight-game winning streak while Newberry has won five consecutive games. The Wolves are third in the league and have secured a position in the postseason championship. The Eagles currently sit in sixth place and have a two-game lead in the loss column over the eighth and final spot in the conference tournament.
"It'd be a lot easier going into these series with a spot in the tournament," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "What we've got to do is we control our own destiny and just keep playing the one pitch at a time and see what happens. There's really nothing else we can do. The key is how are you playing going into these series and I think we are playing pretty well."
For a team that hasn't lost since March 27, Carson-Newman is playing with a great deal of confidence riding the program's longest winning streak in five years. The Eagles understand that what has happened can be rendered meaningless without a solid showing down the stretch.
"We are preparing the same way," Griffin said. "I know Newberry is very good. I think coach [Russell] Triplett is one of the best young coaches. I think he does a tremendous job and his kids will be prepared in all facets of the game. He was outstanding player himself and I think he's been an outstanding coach. It's going to be tough because I think we are similar in a lot of ways. Statistically we are kind of close. Playing at home is a huge advantage for them obviously."
Newberry leads the conference and ranks 18th in Division II baseball with 68 stolen bases, is 11th in the country with 15 triples and ninth nationally with 425 hits. Albert Baur leads the attack with 62 hits and 13 home runs, both good for 10th in the nation, and 16th nationally with 44 RBI.
On the hill, the Wolves boast the top strikeout squad in the league punching out 352 batters on the year on a rotation that has preseason first team All-SAC selection Wesley Camp and preseason second team honoree Cole Cromer.
This weekend's series also pits the two top teams in the league in terms of fielding percentage with Newberry sitting at .965 on the season and Carson-Newman right behind at .963. Defense could be the key to the series as six of the last eight meetings between the two sides have been decided by two runs or fewer.
"I think the key is going to be defensively and not giving any freebies up," Griffin said. "Playing solid defense gives us a chance to stay in the game. Giving up freebies in their park just adds to it. Between the fans that they will have and the environment I think that tends to help the home team. I think we have to play solid defense and communicate well. The park is a little bigger than what we are used to at home."
Carson-Newman holds a 36-14 lead in the all-time series and has won two of three games in three straight series with Newberry's last series victory coming at home in a sweep in 2011.
The Wolves won the first game of the 2014 series 4-3 as the Eagles took a 2-1 lead to the seventh inning as Newberry third basemen Ryan Cranmer hit a three-run home run to secure the lone win of the series.
Carson-Newman responded in the second game of the doubleheader with a 2-1, 11-inning walk-off winner. Newberry plated a run in the top of the 11th inning, but the Eagles responded with two in the bottom half of the stanza including a walk-off infield single by Peter Rajkovich.
The Eagles capped the series with a 2-0 victory courtesy of a complete game shutout by Quinton Yocom (Cable, Ohio). The righty scattered eight hits to become the first Carson-Newman hurler to throw a shutout against a SAC opponent since Brett Hontz blanked Wingate on April 4, 2008.
The Eagle Sports Network will provide a complimentary audio stream for fans for each game by visiting cneagles.com/live prior to the first pitch of each game at the Smith Road Complex.
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