JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman makes its final non-conference road trip of 2017 Tuesday afternoon with a trek to King (Tenn.) in a contest slated for 3:30 p.m. from the King Baseball Field.
"There are individual things that we have to work on," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said of the team's preparation. "Based on what we've seen taking an individual and in a game here's where we have to be better. Whether it's having a better plan at the plate. Whatever it is we have things we are going to review."
In a series that dates back to 1990, Carson-Newman (18-17) holds the lead 17-7 entering the 25th all-time affair with wins in each of the last four. The two programs will meet for the eighth consecutive season in a home-and-home series after a six-year hiatus.
In nine games in Bristol, C-N holds a 7-2 advantage having won seven straight road games in the series. King's (15-18-1) lone two wins on its home field against the Eagles came on March 27, 1991 and in the final of four affairs in 1990.
The Eagles have posted double-digit run efforts against the Tornado 10 times in the first 24 meetings including in each game in 2016 despite winning by a total of three runs. In five consecutive outings from 1992 to 2003, C-N registered no fewer than 13 runs averaging 17.8 in that span.
In the most recent game, Jimmy Rice hit a 0-2 pitch over a drawn-in outfield in left field to score Trever Lee and give Carson-Newman an 11-10 walk-off win over the Tornado. The Eagles outhit the Tornado 17-15 as six separate players had multi-hit affairs including four players, Addington, Rice, Roberts and Lee, with three hits.
In 2016, King produced an 18-30 season that included a seventh-place finish in Conference Carolinas. Coach Blaine Brown returns 12 starters with a projection for a sixth-place ranking in the preseason coaches' poll.
The biggest piece missing from the group is consensus all-region selection Ryan Whitt who led the Tornado with a .430 batting average and .507 on-base percentage while driving in 45 runs and scoring 46 times.
The Tornado swept Southern Wesleyan over the weekend allowing a total of three runs in the series. Coach Blaine Brown's team has played seven games against South Atlantic Conference opponents posting a 4-2-1 record. The tie is from a game against Lincoln Memorial last week that will be resumed when the Tornado go to Harrogate on April 12.
Senior Ryan Sattz is the team's leading returner after being named to the second squad of Conference Carolinas when he hit .379 with seven home runs and 41 RBIs. This season he is hitting just .268 with one homer and 10 RBIs.
In the field, King ranks 185th in the country in fielding percentage with a .949 clip. The unit has made multiple errors in six of their last nine outings including four on two occasions.
The pitching staff has seen 17 different players spend time on the mound this season leading to a 6.38 team earned run average to place 190th in the nation. Those numbers are skewed by an 8.19 ERA on the road in 18 games compared to a 3.50 mark on the Tornado's home field.
The offense is posting just 5.9 runs per game this season to rank 141st in Division II as the group has hit just 16 home runs on the year. No one has more than three on the roster.
The game will feature an audio stream on cneagles.com/live starting at 3:15 p.m. as Eric Cain provides the play-by-play for the Eagle Sports Network.
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