VIDEO: Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (2-0) will try to start its 2015 home schedule in style when it welcomes Bluefield State (0-0) to the Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Softball Complex for a 1 p.m. first pitch Saturday.
"We gave up a lot of walks in the opener to Belmont Abbey," C-N softball head coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "I hope we're able to minimize that as well as to continue hitting and to be faster reacters defensively."
The programs will meet for the 11th time in the series that dates back to 2004. The Eagles have dominated the matchups, winning all 10 thus far, eight by the run rule.
Carson-Newman has outscored the Blues 90-7 in series history. Last season the Eagles took home 9-0 and 8-0 wins over Bluefield State in the mountains of West Virginia.
Carson-Newman pitcher Kalyn Davis fired a no-hitter in the second run-rule win for the Eagles last year. She walked two batters but sat down the rest of the Blues she faced.
Between the two games Carson-Newman pounded out a combined 30 hits.
Bluefield State went 7-23 last season.
Elayna Siebert (Knoxville, Tenn.) has kept her bat warm over the offseason. She went 4-for-7 at the dish with a double and a home run in the Eagles' doubleheader sweep of Belmont Abbey too start the season. Dating back to last year's SAC tournament Siebert is 14-25 at the plate. That includes a three-hit day and a pair of four-hit days - the first in her career.
"This isn't a negative. Elayna has a 4.0. She's smart," Kazee-Hollifield said. "She's so smart, sometimes she overanalyzes. My job as a coach is to keep her loose. She's more of a power hitter than she was her freshman year. We expect her to knock in runs this year."
Meanwhile, Lindsay Dean (Coeburn, Va.) was highly efficient in her debut in the circle. The freshman only needed 90 pitches to dust off Belmont Abbey in the complete game win in which she only allowed three hits.
"I was pleased with Dean's poise in the circle in her first time out," Kazee-Hollifield said. "But then again we can always see more movement. There's always lots of things to work on early."
The Eagles have won every home opener dating back to the 2009 season when they cracked open that season with a 14-0 win over Bluefield State, the largest win in the series. Four of the Eagles last six opening day games have been run-rule wins. Carson-Newman has swept every home-opening doubleheader since the 2009 season with the exception of a home-opening doubleheader against Bellarmine in 2012. The Eagles won the first game 7-2 before dropping the nightcap 6-2.
First pitch from The Vick is slated for 1 p.m. Saturday. Matthewson Ozblartson will have the play-by-play call on the Eagle Sports Network with a free HD stream at cneagles.com/live.
