JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Belmont Abbey makes the trip from the Tar Heel State to the Volunteer State for a Wednesday afternoon contest scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex as Carson-Newman attempts to snap a four-game losing streak.
"We have to reflect on things and try to learn from them," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said after a sweep at the hands of Newberry on Saturday. "We have to give thanks for all that we have going on. We can't just give thanks when things are going well. We have to do it when things are tough. We are going to bounce back from this one way or another."
Carson-Newman (10-16) and Belmont Abbey (18-11) began playing in 1999 with the Eagles holding the lead in the series of 21-14 while posting a 9-4 mark at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex despite the Crusaders capturing three of the last for affairs in the Volunteer State.
In 2016 the two programs met twice during a twin-bill at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex when the Crusaders were ranked 10th in the nation. C-N won game one 7-3 while dropping the second contest 5-3. The win in the first game snapped Belmont Abbey's 16-game winning streak while Carson-Newman picked up its first win over a ranked team since April 18, 2013 against 23rd-ranked Catawba. The last win for the Eagles over a top-10 came on Feb. 12, 2013 when C-N topped No. 7 Lander 5-3. The Eagles defeated seven ranked teams in 2013.
The first meeting this season saw Belmont Abbey, ranked 19th at the time, hold off a late comeback to win 6-4 on Valentine's Day. C-N mustered just one hit in the first six innings and three hits on the day and drew three walks while striking out 11 times in the game.
Nick Beinlich crushed a two-run home run over the left-field wall to the left in the first inning and Colin Rosenbaum finished the afternoon by going 4-for-5 while Krause notched two hits in four times at the plate.
The Crusdaers enter play on Wednesday riding an eight-game winning streak dating back to a 13-10 loss at North Greenville on March 4. The club is averaging 11 runs per game in that stretch having plated double-digit runs five times while yielding just five runs to its opponents.
Only four teams have been hit by more pitches this season the Belmont Abbey's 48 and only USC Aiken has drawn more walks than the squad's 152 while the team is eighth in the nation in homers with 38. Beinlich is fifth in the USA with 12 to lead the team. Those numbers help the Crusaders rank 23rd nationally in on-base percentage at .422 and 14th in the country in runs scored with 223. Four players are top 30 in Division II in walks led by Rosenbaum's 26 ranking him second amongst individuals.
The pitching staff is in the middle of the country tallying an ERA of 5.25 thus far on the year allowing just shy of 10 hits per outing striking out eight and walking just shy of four batters per nine innings.
Beinlich is putting together a great all-around season ranking seventh in the country with 86 total bases, eighth with 16 stolen bases and runs scored with 36 while his 43 hits are 16th.
The contest will feature a four-camera high definition video stream and audio option on cneagles.com/live as the Eagle Sports Networks hits the airwaves 15 minutes prior to first pitch with "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to First Pitch".
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