BRISTOL, Tenn. – Carson-Newman kicks off the final week of the regular season visiting King on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. at King Baseball Field finishing the 2023 campaign with four road games before the postseason.
"This game is all about confidence," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "How does each individual get that confidence? You have to taste some success. You have to work hard. You have to believe in yourself and you're teammates have to believe in you. It's a blessing."
With no more home games on the slate, the Eagles finished the season 17-5 at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex. It was one of the best records the team has posted under Griffin including the third-fewest wins and fifth-best winning percentage at Mossy Creek since the skipper took over in 2006.
Carson-Newman (22-19) faces off with King (12-27) for the 34th time with the former holding a 23-10 lead behind three wins in a row and five of the last six. The Tornado's last win came on Feb. 11, 2020 at Mossy Creek but have lost each of the last two meetings played on their home field.
When the units clashed on March 29, Carson-Newman saw nine hurlers record the team's third shutout of the season beating King 8-0. On the mound, the club used nine hurlers allowing just two hits and four walks while fanning a dozen batters. The group threw 74 of 115 pitches for strikes in the game retiring the side in order four times after sitting down the first seven Tornado hitters of the game. It was the second year in a row at home that the Eagles tallied a shutout after not producing one in 32 years.
Grif Hughes (Knoxville, Tenn.) earned his fourth win of the year throwing 10 pitches in a 1-2-3 first inning as seven different hurlers threw 15 pitches or fewer in their inning of work. King went 0-for-12 with runners on base and 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position for the day.
King enters the midweek matchup losers of six straight games allowing double-digit runs five times in that period being outscored 70-23 since beating Mars Hill 15-6 on April 4. While the team is 3-18 on the road, it is 9-9 inside of the friendly confines.
Coach Blaine Brown's team was swept by UNC Pembroke over the weekend seeing its record drop to 2-20 in Conference Carolinas action. The team's losing streak in league play reached 12 in a row, the sixth-longest skid in Division II and one of eight teams to lose at least 10 straight. Only five teams in the country have fewer conference wins than the Tornado for the year as the team has a .091 winning percentage.
Drew Moore has been one of the best pitchers in the country with five complete games for the year and an ERA of 2.27 that ranks in the top 40 of the country. He has been the lone bright spot on the mound as the team ranks 10th in the league with a 7.63 team ERA. The hurlers have allowed 10-plus runs 13 times and are 3-20 when allowing at least six runs. A foe has registered double-digit hits 22 times in 39 games.
At the plate, King is posting 4.6 runs per game and has hit 14 long balls. The group has been shut out six times and has scored three of fewer runs 22 times. Over the last 14 games, the Tornado have scored six or fewer runs in 13 of the 14 games striking out 10 times or more on six occasions.
Junior Renwick leads the team in hitting with a .314 average and RBIs with 25. Before being held hitless against the Braves in the series finale, he was on a nine-game hitting streak where he drove in eight runs. Preston Steele is not far behind with a team-leading four long balls driving in 23 runs.
Wednesday's game can be viewed on King's production with all the coverage available by following @CN_Eagles on Twitter and Instagram.
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