CLEVELAND, Tenn. – After sweeping Emory & Henry over the weekend, Carson-Newman plays its next four on the road starting with a visit to Lee on Tuesday at 3 p.m. looking to its extends its winning streak to four in a row.
One of the biggest reasons for the team's success over the weekend was a vast improvement from the bullpen. Entering the weekend, the group had an ERA north of eight but fired 11 2/3 innings of one-run baseball against the Wasps striking out 11 while walking just two batters.
Tuesday is the 26th time the two programs are due to square off with the Eagles holding a 13-12 overall edge in the series after the clubs split two meetings in 2022. Carson-Newman (5-6) has won four of the last six games against Lee (5-6).
In the most recent meeting, C-N drew 11 walks and used a five-run sixth inning to take down the Flames on the road on March 15, 2022. Two C-N hitters tallied a multi-hit day with Andrew Carpenter going 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Harris Travis (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) knocking around two pokes. Gunnar Ricketts drove in three runs and scored twice.
On the slab, Matt Coles earned the win throwing four innings of relief fanning four batters giving up two runs, one earned, on four hits and two walks. Lee used eight different pitchers with seven giving up at least one run and four walking at least two batters. Only 101 of the team's 196 pitches in the game went for strikes.
Last season was one of the best years for the Lee program going 33-24 overall while scoring 18 unanswered runs to topple Shorter in the Gulf South Conference Championship game for the team's first tournament crown. The group punched a ticket to the NCAA South Regional for a second year in a row where it beat Saint Leo twice but lost to Rollins twice to end its campaign.
Coach Mark Brew's unit was picked to finish second in this year's preseason poll, three points behind Delta State for the top slot. Three players were picked on all-league teams to start the year. Pitchers Sam Fulton and Jack Nedrow, last year's Freshman of the Year, and Dylan Standifer were the honorees.
To open this season, the group has dropped two out of three games to Hillsdale to start the year and has losses to Lincoln Memorial and Mars Hill. Last weekend, the unit was blanked 14-0 in seven innings to Alabama Huntsville before bouncing back to win the final two games 4-2 and 14-6.
Lee's bats have been hot posting 15 homers and six multi-dinger days including four blasts in the finale over the Chargers. Eight different players have blasted a tater so far this year with Standifer and Malachi Cloud each tallying three. Standifer is only hitting .250 but four of his 10 hits have gone for extra bases and he leads the team with 13 RBIs.
Three players are hitting north of .365 led by a .400 margin by Brandon Daniels. The outfielder has four multi-hit games and has scored a run in seven outings.
On the slab, the hurlers fanned at least 13 batters in four of the first five games but has eight or fewer in the last six games since a season-high 15 against Mars Hill on Feb. 11. Walks have been an issue at times with eight or more in five games.
Tuesday's game can be viewed on Lee's production with all the coverage available by following @CN_Eagles on Twitter and Instagram.
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