JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Hitting the road for the first in a sequence of seven out of eight away from home, Carson-Newman travels up the road to face King looking to make it nine straight on the Tornado's home field on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.
"We want to make sure they have an edge," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "We don't want them to be comfortable to the point where they lose that edge. Every day you come with the thought that your opponent is working just as hard as you. You have to stay one step ahead of them. You have to come in and work extremely hard."
Since losing the first two road games of the series in 1990 and 1991, Carson-Newman (17-9) has rattled off eight straight wins in Bristol and holds a 17-8 overall advantage in the series. The last three contests at King Baseball Field have been decided by six total points with an extra-inning game in the mix.
In the first meeting this year, King (15-9) snapped a five-game losing streak in the series with an 11-6 victory at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex on Feb. 27 as the Tornado used a five-run fourth to break open a 1-1 tie. The Eagles mustered a pair of knocks with runners in scoring position in the game in 13 at-bats leaving 10 men on base in the contest. Conversely, King went 6-for-14 in those situations.
The top three men in C-N's lineup, Langhorne, Campbell and Snapp combined to go 6-for-11 while the rest of the unit went 4-for-22 at the plate. Langhorne went 3-for-4 with two runs scored while Snapp drove in a pair.
Five players had multi-hit days for King in the contest as Tony Valdes and Trader Flora drove in three runs apiece and J.P. Castaneda and Hunter Barbour had a trio of knocks.
Christian Lindsey picked up the win on the hill going three innings of one-run baseball scattering three hits as one of four hurlers used on the day for King.
King was swept over the weekend by 25th-ranked North Greenville as the Crusaders outscored the Tornado 22-10 in the three-game set. Each of the last eight games have been on the road for King who is 10-3 inside of the home ball park on the season.
The pitching staff benefits from the home park this year registering a 3.06 team ERA at the King Baseball Field compared to a 5.56 tally in road affairs giving up four dingers versus eight in road games on the season. It is a strong overall group however ranking 15th in Division II on the season allowing under eight hits per game. The defense behind the hurlers is solid ranking 46th in America with a .968 fielding percentage.
In 14 games in February, the Tornado pitching staff allowed three bombs while it has watched nine leave the park in 10 games in March including six in the series loss to North Greenville.
Nine different players have hit at least one home run at the plate this season as Valdes leads the group with four on the season while hitting a team-high .348. With 31 stolen bases, the Tornado are in the upper half of Division II in the category as 11 men have recorded have swiped at least one bag during the 2018 campaign. The team has failed to swipe a bag in six of the last eight outings after recording on in 12 of the first 16.
Stay tuned to @CNathletics on Twitter for the latest updates regarding the game with links available for the broadcast and live stats available on cneagles.com.
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