JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (7-6, 2-1 SAC) aims to keep the good times rolling in weekend series at home when crosstown rival Tusculum (8-7, 4-2 SAC) visits the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex for a South Atlantic Conference series this weekend.
The Eagles enter their second conference series of the season with a full week of rest and preparation after not squaring off in a midweek contest for the first time this season.
"I've got a ton of notes that we are going to review," Carson-Newman head baseball coach Tom Griffin said. "Both offensively with hitting, base-running and then with defense and mindset. We are just going to keep trying to improve each and every day. We're never going to be the best version of ourself, that's never ending. It's a process versus results. This is a long-term thing that we are going to get better at, whether they are here for one more year or four more years. We are going to teach and get them better."
Carson-Newman continues to be incredible at home in weekend series. C-N has won eight straight home series' dating back to last season and has secured four sweeps during this stretch. It's the longest home series winning streak in program history. There have been multiple stretches over the program's history with four or more home series' won consecutively, but none greater than C-N's current streak now. During this stretch, Carson-Newman has won the series opener six of the eight times. In weekend series' this season, C-N is 7-2 overall.
The Eagles pitching staff is coming off a one-hit shutout in a series finale victory over Newberry. The shutout was C-N's first in South Atlantic Conference play since April 18, 2021 in a 10-0 win over Coker. Its last one-hit shutout also came that season, one month earlier against Queens.
Aiden Gibson (Cleveland, Tenn.) continues to be a tough out at the dish, heading into the Tusculum series with a team-best six game hitting streak, one off his career longest. The infielder is tied with James Denten with a team-high 14 hits. Denten is hitting .341 after the month of February and drove in a team-best 12 runs. Getting on base has been a strength of C-N. The Eagles have a .398 on base percentage, fourth-best in the SAC.
These two clubs met in a midweek non-conference contest just a few weeks ago with TU winning 4-2 in Greeneville. All four runs Tusculum scored were unearned runs and all came in one inning. It was a game filled with opportunities that C-N failed to take advantage of. The Eagles stranded multiple runners on base in five consecutive innings and left 13 guys aboard in the loss. Now, TU and C-N meet for a weekend conference series in Mossy Creek for the first time since 2021. The Pioneers took three of four to win the series that season. The last time Carson-Newman won a home series against Tusculum was back during the 2013 season. The Eagles swept #19 Tusculum and outscored them 21-10 in the three wins. Overall, C-N holds the slim 57-54 advantage in the 34-year rivalry.
After defeating Carson-Newman back on Feb. 13, the Pioneers have found their groove by taking two of three in their first two conference series of the season. After the midweek win over C-N, TU went to Anderson and took two of the three, sweeping a doubleheader to take the series. Tusculum hosted Catawba for a rare Sunday/Monday series just a few days ago, winning the series opener and the finale.
TU heads to Mossy Creek having won three of its last four games and five of its last seven. The three losses since the C-N game, have been by three runs or less. The Pioneers have recovered well after a shaky start to sit a game above .500 and 4-2 in the league.
Six different TU batters have played at least eight games and are hitting above .300. After scoring six runs or more just once through the first seven games, TU has managed to do it six times in its last eight games and is 5-2 when doing so.
Ben Scartz has a team-high 22 hits on just 2 extra base knocks. He has only struck out twice in 56 at bats. Jake Absher has driven in the most runs with 15 and is tied for the team-lead with two home runs. In six conference games, TU is hitting .323 and only one of every five batters have struck out. Its not just the hitting that has led to the recent success, but the pitching as well. Brandon Steele's pitching staff not allowed more than four runs in four straight games. In five of their six conference games, TU has allowed four runs or less and won four of those contests.
The weekend series begins Saturday at noon with a doubleheader. All three contests will air on the Eagle Sports Network with video available on FloSports with a paid subscription and an audio-only stream on cneagles.com/live.
