JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – To start off the home portion of its 2018 schedule, Carson-Newman hosts Virginia-Wise for a doubleheader Friday afternoon starting at noon at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
The teams will play a nine-inning game to start the day and a seven-inning affair roughly 30 minutes following the ending of game one.
Carson-Newman (2-2) opens the doors to the friendly confines for the first time in 2018 after matching the program's Division II record for home win in 2017 going 22-6 at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex. Under coach Tom Griffin, the Eagles are 174-99 at home since 2006.
"We are there so much that we feel very comfortable," Griffin stated. "We talk a lot about the pride of playing at home. Everything revolves around Mossy Creek. We feel like we are the guardians of it because we are the closest ones to it. We are the first line of defense. We talk a lot about the pride and about what it's like to play here at Carson-Newman and how hard it should be to come in here and play."
Griffin's group hit nearly 80 points higher at home, .327 versus .251, at home scoring nine runs per game at home in 2017. On the rubber, the hurlers posted a 5.06 ERA compared to a 7.99 mark in road outings.
Since C-N joined the Division II ranks in 1994, the Eagles are 20-4 in home openers including 10-2 under Griffin since he took over in 2006. The program has won five straight home openers with their last loss in a lidlifter at home coming on Feb. 21, 2012 when King (Tenn.) took home a 10-7 victory.
Virginia-Wise (1-2) has been the team C-N has opened the home slate each of the last two years with a 1-0, eight-inning triumph in the snow on Valentine's Day 2016 and a three-game sweep of the Cavaliers in 2017.
The first game of the series in 2017 was a historic day for Ryan Addington as C-N won 18-3. He went 5-for-6 with grand slams in the 3rd and 4th inning tallying 14 total bases and four runs scored while breaking the South Atlantic Conference record with 10 RBIs in an 18-5 win over UVA-Wise on Feb. 10, 2017.
The outfielder passed the league record of nine set three times most recently by Derek Treece for Lincoln Memorial on March 21, 2008 versus Kennesaw State. Addington became the 15th player in the history of Division II to hit two grand slams in one day. The last person to do so was Pat Trettel of Seton against Pitt-Johnstown on March 20, 2010.
The Cavaliers are coming off of a 19-31 season in 2017 where the club took care of business at home to a 10-6 record but faltered on the road winning just eight of 29 contests away from home.
"UVA-Wise is a good club," Griffin assessed. "We have competed very well with them. Hank Banner has been there a long time so we know what we are going to get from him and his club. It's a great opening two games."
Hank Banner's team was picked to finish fifth in the Mountain East Conference's South Division, a few points higher than Glenville State. Overall, the unit was tabbed eighth in the 12-team league.
Wise does return the reigning MEC Freshman of the Year in Nate Thompson. The two-way star did a little bit of everything a season ago tallying a .328 batting average with two bombs and 22 RBIs in 36 starts in the field. On the mound, the right-hander registered a 2-2 record with a 1.65 ERA punching out 26 in 32.2 innings on the hill.
The Cavs opened their season with three games against St. Augustine's that saw the pitching staff handle itself well to the tune of a 3.86 ERA with 23 strikeouts in 21 innings. The offense was a different story notching four extra-base hits, all doubles, while hitting .213 as a group.
Josh Haga, a redshirt-sophomore, was the star at the dish going 3-for-7 with a double and three runs scored at the plate. He went 4-for-11 in the batter's box a season ago at Mossy Creek.
For those unable to attend the games on Friday, the Eagle Sports Network will provide a video and audio stream available on cneagles.com/live starting at 11:45 a.m. setting the stage for the day.
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