JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – In its final South Atlantic Conference home series of the 2017 season, Carson-Newman will bid farewell to 14 seniors with a three-game series against Wingate starting Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. from the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex and finishing Saturday with a doubleheader at noon.
"I think every group you get you get as seniors there is always something because they have lasted this long and invested so much time," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "There's always that feeling of sadness to see them go on but you also know that this is the next step. As a coaching staff you want them to feel prepared for their next step in this journey which is landing jobs, finishing school or moving to different areas of the country. I think this group is more than prepared because of this university and the environment."
The Eagles will hold a senior day ceremony Friday afternoon at 1:20 p.m. that features six regulars in the field and four of the top pitching options participate in their final weekend series.
Wingate (17-24, 8-10) has won 16 of the last 18 games against Carson-Newman (20-20, 7-11) and holds a 49-40 lead in the all-time series while winning 21 of the 36 outings played at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
The last series win for the Eagles over the Bulldogs, winners of the last five series, came during the 2011 season when C-N picked up two out of three games at Ron Christopher Stadium earning victories in the first and third games of 9-2 and 5-3 respectively. Austin Bridgewater went the distance in the first game allowing four hits with seven strikeouts.
The Bulldogs have won eight straight games at Mossy Creek with the last win for the Eagles coming on April 17, 2009. Wingate scored four runs in the top of the ninth to take a 7-6 lead. Tyler Wynn homered and an Evan Patterson base hit to left field scored Zach Long to secure a walk-off 8-6 triumph.
Wingate has won three straight series at Carson-Newman as the Eagles took two out of three games in 2007. Pitching was critical in the two wins as the first game saw Matt Teague hurl seven frames of two-run ball with six punch outs and Steve Cishek picked up the save tossing the final two scoreless stanzas fanning three and Cole Draughn tossed a complete game with six strikeouts and four hits in a 4-1 nightcap win.
Wingate was tied with LMU for fifth in the preseason SAC coaches' poll. The Bulldogs lost Shane Billings, a 13th round selection of the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2016 MLB Amateur Draft, who led the league with a .444 batting average. Wingate did not have a member on the preseason first team but had three players listed on the second squad.
Entering this weekend, coach Jeff Gregory's unit has lost 15 of its last 19 games but have a pair of series victories in that span taking two out of three games at Coker and on the road against Lenoir-Rhyne.
In conference games this year, the Bulldogs have scored the second fewest runs of any team in the league scoring just 4.6 per contest while posting a team on-base percentage of .351, eighth in the SAC.
With 31 errors in 18 SAC outings, only Lenoir-Rhyne and Brevard have made more miscues in the field. The team's ERA in middle of the pack but has allowed 18 homers, the third most in the league registering just 110 punch outs, 10th among SAC schools.
Junior outfielder Ty Andrus is second in the league and 22nd nationally with 18 stolen bases in 23 attempts. In SAC games this season, Andrus is hitting .414 with an on-base percentage of just shy of .493.
Junior right-hander Hunter Morgan has given up five earned runs in his last 21 innings after giving up 17 against Mars Hill and Catawba in 8 2/3 innings. After five straight outings with one earned run or fewer, senior righty Brandon Donahue has not made it through three innings allowing 14 total runs versus Newberry and L-R.
Each game during the weekend will feature a high definition broadcast and an audio stream on cneagles.com/live starting 15 minutes prior to first pitch as the Eagle Sports Network provides the play-by-play coverage.
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