Good things typically happen offensively when the Eagles play Belmont Abbey. Carson-Newman has produced seven 20+-run games since 1990, two of which have come at the expense of the Crusaders.
The 28 runs the Eagles put up in the first meeting in 1996 are still a school record. That isn't the only school record that C-N produced against the Crusaders, the 26 hits and 11 doubles C-N had in that game still stand as single game marks. Carson-Newman has picked up run rule wins in 75 percent of the meetings between the schools. Furthermore, the Eagles all-time margin of victory against BAC is 10.458 to 1.541.
On the Eagles current seven-game win streak over the Crusaders, all but one game has been decided by a run-rule win.
Then, the Eagles play host to Georgia College and State University (4-2). The Eagles have lost three consecutive to the Bobcats but Carson-Newman leads the all-time series 13-9. GCS took a pair of one-run games from the Eagles last season 2-1 and 8-7 in Milledgeville, Ga.
BELMONT ABBEY has fallen three times at the hands of South Atlantic Conference competition to open up its 2014 slate. The Crusaders have struggled offensively. They've been shutout on four occasions but have only been run-ruled once (by Francis Marion 10-0 to open the season).
As a team, Belmont Abbey bats .160 and only has three players who have appeared in more than 50 percent of the team's games who are batting .250 or better. The Crusaders have just four extra base hits as a team. Only Dani Marietta – one of the three hitting .250 or better – has multiple extra base hits.
Samantha Jacobs leads the BAC pitching staff with 12 strikeouts. The defense hasn't always been the best behind the Crusaders in the circle, 21 of the 42 runs BAC has allowed this season have been unearned.
First pitch with Belmont Abbey Sunday is 1 p.m. Live stats and video are available at cneagles.com/live.
GEORGIA COLLEGE has featured a prominent pitching staff and defense that hasn't always gotten the run support it needs to produce wins. The Bobcats pitchers have surrendered eight earned runs on the year with just a .217 batting average against.
Faith Flanders leads the staff with a 2-0 record and a 0.00 ERA. Marisa Boyette has the most starts and appearances on the staff. She features a 3:1 strikeout to walk ratio.
Whitney Okvist is the Bobcats' top hitter with a .474 average. She has nine hits, but no one else for GCS has more than three hits.
The Bobcats have won three straight, including a 3-0 win over C-N's conference mate Queens that ended up splitting a doubleheader with the Royals.
The contest will be available on the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live.
