JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Prior to embarking on its longest road trip of the season Carson-Newman looks to continue its success against Limestone hosting the Saints on Wednesday at 2 p.m. from the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex in a midweek contest.
Coach Tom Griffin's unit has been running this season with 42 stolen bases, good for third in the South Atlantic Conference, after going 13-for-13 over the weekend against Mars Hill. The Eagles have 10 multi-steal games and six players have at least five.
Wednesday's affair is the 41st meeting between the two programs and the fourth this season with Carson-Newman (13-6) holding a 23-17 all-time lead after sweeping the season-opening three-game series at Limestone (4-15).
The Eagles have won nine of the 10 meetings played at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex outscoring the Saints 89-43 during that stretch. The lone loss for Griffin's group came on April 10, 2018, a 10-8 setback. In a game where each team hit three home runs, Limestone used a six-run sixth inning to overcome its third deficit of the day.
When the teams met over the first two days of February, they combined to score 65 runs finishing the weekend with a wild 18-17 finale. The Eagles were a flawless 9-for-9 on stolen bases racking up 33 hits. On the mound, the pitching staff allowed 36 hits and walked 17 batters.
Charlie Brown (Sevierville, Tenn.) led the offense going 6-for-12 with a homer, a double and four RBIs. Nine different players knocked in at least two runs and 11 individuals scored two or more times with a trio tapping the plate five times.
Limestone has played 16 of its first 19 games of the year at home losing nine of its first 10 contests overall. The Saints lost a three-run and two-run game to No. 11 Mount Olive two weeks ago in a sweep but has picked up wins in two of their last four including a 17-16 triumph over Erskine on Saturday. They trailed 8-0 after two frames before scoring 14 of 15 to cling to a win.
The pitching staff has been the biggest issue for coach Chris Wiley's crew. No team in Conference Carolinas has surrendered more than the 143 giving up 10 or more six times. Opponents have posted 10 or more hits 10 times including each of the last three yielding a league-high 15 homers including five with at least two.
Defensively, the Saints are the second-worst fielding unit out of the 10-team conference with a .947 margin racking up 35 errors and seven double plays. The team committed nine miscues in last weekend's series against the Flying Fleet. Teams have stolen 45 bases being thrown out a total of five times in 2020.
Offensively, the team is in the middle of the pack in almost every category ranking sixth in the league with 99 total runs on the year. The offense has caught fire over the last four piling up 60 hits and four home runs. However the lineup has been fanned in double digits on six occasions.
Benjamin Huber is fifth in the conference in batting average posting a .394 clip with 10 multi-hit games on the year riding a four-game string with posting six multi-RBI outings. In his last four, he is 11-for-16 with two homers and eight RBIs. He has multiple hits in each game and multiple RBIs in three of the four.
Wednesday's game will air on cneagles.com/live in video and audio formats with the Eagle Sports Network providing the sights and sounds from the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
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