JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Fresh off its second walk-off win of the season, Carson-Newman (13-14) meets Montevallo (20-10) for a pair of midweek matchups tomorrow and Wednesday at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
Carson-Newman ended its four-game losing streak with a walk-off win in extra innings on Sunday against Catawba. It was the second walk-off hit of the season, both of which have been in extras and in conference play and were exactly one month apart from each other.
Carson-Newman will have two opportunities to secure its first midweek win of the season. The Eagles are 0-5 in midweek games this season and are 0-3 at home. It will be the first time this season that C-N will play two midweek games against non-conference opponents. It happened on two occasions last season in back-to-back weeks in early February. The Eagles went 1-3 in those four games.
With 13 wins so far in 2024, head coach Tom Griffin brings his career total to 698 entering two midweek contests with Montevallo. The skipper has 514 wins in his Carson-Newman career, securing win 500 at the end of the regular season last year. His career winning percentage is .564 with the Eagles.
Freshman Logan Floyd (Adairsville, Ga.) continues to rake at the plate for C-N in his rookie season. The third baseman has hit safely in seven straight games and has been on base in eleven straight games. The seven-game hitting streak is the longest by an Eagles hitter this season.
Carson-Newman and Montevallo are set to meet for the eighth and ninth times. C-N trails the all-time ledger 3-4 but did win the most recent meeting back in 2010, 11-1. The Falcons will make just their second trip to Jefferson City, and the first since 2004 when the clubs split a doubleheader 20 seasons ago. Of the seven contests played, four have been decided by three runs or less.
Montevallo enters its spring break at 20-10 overall and is currently tied for first place in the Gulf South Conference standings after a four-win week. In GSC action, the Falcons swept UAH on the road, in a series that featured two extra-inning games. After going 3-5 to begin the month of March, the Falcons got back on track with seven straight wins, beginning with a sweep of Mississippi College. This seven-game winning streak is tied for the tenth longest active winning streak in DII.
Montevallo's surge to the top of the GSC standings over the past two weeks can be attributed to its balance at the plate and on the mound. Over the seven-game win streak, Montevallo has scored nearly eight runs per game and allowed just four runs a game. The Falcons boast a top-five batting average at the plate this season, .304, and a top-three earned run average, 4.91. In the series over UAH, the Falcon pitching staff limited the Charger baserunners by allowing just five walks through the three games – the lowest in a series this season. Over the course of the season, the Montevallo hurlers are second in the league with 241 strikeouts.
The Falcons are 10-6 on the road this year, and have won seven straight. The seven-game road winning streak is tied for the fourth-longest active road winning streak. Seth Gurr and Zach Wyatt will start on the mound for the Falcons in the two contests.
Tuesday afternoon's contest starts at 4:00 p.m. with Wednesday's contest beginning at 12:00 p.m. The 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.
