Carson-Newman Baseball Game Notes
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman opens a nine-game sequence of home games Friday afternoon with a 3 p.m. first pitch against Coker to begin a three-game series against the Cobras at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex with a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday beginning at noon.
The Eagles (16-12, 4-5) are just 3-7 over their last 10 games but return to the friendly confines where they are 11-5 on the season.
"I'd rather look at how we have played overall which I think has been very good," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "We take that Wingate series and it was a very good series. I thought we played well. Some breaks didn't go our way which is baseball. I think overall we played okay. Would we like to see more timely hits and better pitches at times? Sure. I think we've been playing well."
This weekend's series will be the third year the two teams have competed with the Cobras (18-11, 5-4) taking two out of three games in 2014 and the Eagles prevailing in two out of three contests in 2015.
Last season the two sides squared off at Mossy Creek as C-N won the first two games of the series 15-7 and 6-3 while falling in the series finale 11-7. The two victories for the Eagles saw Carson-Newman belt four home runs by four different players.
The Cobras have lost six of their last nine games after starting the season 15-5. Coker spots an 8-8 record on the road this season compared to a 10-3 mark at home.
In the 2016 preseason coaches' poll, the Cobras were picked to finish last receiving just 24 points in the vote after going 15-29 (6-22) and finishing at the bottom of the table in 2015 losing the final seven games of the campaign.
The Cobras have lost six of their last nine games after starting the season 15-5. Coker spots an 8-8 record on the road this season compared to a 10-3 mark at home.
In the 2016 preseason coaches' poll, the Cobras were picked to finish last receiving just 24 points in the vote after going 15-29 (6-22) and finishing at the bottom of the table in 2015 losing the final seven games of the campaign.
The Cobras have nearly surpassed their conference win total in just three series this season having taken two out of three games at Brevard and Anderson (S.C.) while taking one from Tusculum last weekend. The victory came on Friday against the Pioneers' top pitching duo of five-time league pitcher of the week Placido Torres and Devan Watts winning in the 12th inning on a wild pitch.
At the plate, Coker has put together one of the top offenses in the SAC ranking third with 235 runs scored, a number that ranks third in the league but eighth at the Division II level, and second in the league in on-base percentage leading the nation in hit batters (57) while ranking 15th in hits (300) and 19th in walks (19). The one aspect that is lacking at the plate is the long ball as the Cobras are 10th in the conference with 13 home runs.
The top two players at the plate have been sophomore shortstop Bryson Conner and senior outfielder Miguel Frias as the duo are tied for the team lead with 38 hits, eighth in the SAC.
On the mound, the Cobras will rely upon a trio of upperclassmen with a defense that ranks 10th in the league in fielding percentage with a .945 percentage. As a unit the pitching staff has a team earned run average of 5.46 while recording the fewest strikeouts in the SAC with just 171.
Senior Dallas Baldwin and junior Darius Coldrion are in the top-10 in the league in ERA. Baldwin gave up seven earned runs and 11 hits in 8.2 innings in the series finale in 2015.
All three games will be available in high definition on cneagles.com/live courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network. Pregame coverage begins 10 minutes prior to the first pitch with pregame interviews.
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