JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Making the short trip over to Greeneville, Carson-Newman (3-2) faces off against Tusculum (2-4) for its first road contest of the season tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m.
The Carson-Newman bullpen has been stout early in the year. Tom Griffin's bullpen has a 2.45 ERA, and 11 different arms have a scoreless outing of the 17 used so far this season. Only one bullpen pitcher has allowed multiple runs this season. Five different pitchers have pitched multiple scoreless innings.
Despite the 3-2 record to start the year, C-N has started slow in most of its games. The Eagles have scored first in just one of the five games and have been outscored 11-3 in the first two innings. Carson-Newman has dominated the middle innings of games, with a 16-3 advantage in innings 4-6.
James Denten (Mt. Prospect, Ill.) is off to an excellent start at the plate in his senior season. The outfielder is hitting .438 and has a team-high seven hits and six RBI through five games. He has hit safely in all five games this season. Four of his seven hits are with runners in scoring position.
C-N's hitters have been ball magnets early in the season. C-N leads the country in hit by pitches with 21 after five games. Trey Miller (Rocky Point, N.Y.) has a team-high of four hit by pitches while five others have been hit by multiple pitches as well.
Outside of Carson-Newman's 13 run eruption in the series finale against King, the offense has produced just 14 runs on 22 hits in the 34 other innings played this season. The Eagles have gotten the leadoff guy on base 40% of the time, and are hitting .259 with runners on base this season.
The Eagles and Pioneers will meet for the 111th time since 1990 season with the Eagles holing the slim 57-53 advantage. The record is an even 23-23 when the two teams battle at Pioneer Park. C-N will strive for its first three-game winning streak against Tusculum since 2018. The Eagles took two of the three meetings last season including one in the SAC Tournament 8-3. 12 of the last 13 meetings at Pioneer Park have been decided by three runs or less. Last season's 10-4 TU victory on Feb. 8th, 2023 was the largest margin of victory for either side in Greeneville since C-N won 7-2 on Feb. 22, 2014.
Tusculum has started the season 2-4, winning one game in its first two weekends of the season. Both victories were by one run, including on Sunday against Illinois Springfield 5-4. Two of the four losses for TU are by one run as well. The Pioneers have led in five of their six games to start the season.
The Pioneers were picked to finish eighth in the SAC preseason poll, two spots behind C-N. Luke Absher was a second-team pick while Zane Keener was a third-team preseason selection.
Keener leads the team's group of hitters through six games with seven hits and seven RBI. 12 different players have drove in a run for TU. Four of the top five hitters are seniors or graduate students. The team is hitting .241 this season and has 10 extra base hits.
Brandon Steele's pitching staff has a 5.29 ERA through six games and has struck out 39 batters in 51 innings. Out of the bullpen, Drew Sliwinski has a 1.35 ERA in 6 2/3 innings pitched to lead the staff. Brice Anders has seven innings of two run baseball in two appearances good for a 2.45 ERA.
First pitch from Pioneer Park is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Fans can listen to the game on the Eagle Sports Network by visiting cneagles.com/live.
