JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (35-11) hits the South Atlantic Conference tournament dance floor looking to pull off a regular season/tournament championship sweep.
The top-seeded Eagles' journey begins Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at Byers Park in Hartsville, S.C. against tournament hosts and eighth-seeded Coker (24-25) in the double elimination tournament.
Carson-Newman stubbed its toe in its regular season finale against Queens after clinching the league title outright with a 12-4 win over the Royals to start the day.
C-N let a three-run lead in the sixth slip through its grasp as the Royals rallied to take a 7-6 win in the nightcap and spoil the Eagles' celebration.
"I don't know what button you have to hit, but it's whatever one that makes you forget about a loss like that," head softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "I'll never make excuses for the kids, but they played with a lot of pressure these last three weeks trying to stay number one because they wanted to win the conference title outright."
Carson-Newman hasn't fared well in its SAC tournament openers of late. The Eagles haven't won the opening game to begin the league's tournament since defeating LMU 6-0 to begin the 2010 tourney. Carson-Newman was dumped by Brevard 1-0 in 2011, dropped by Tusculum 5-1 in 2012, hit with a 4-1 loss by Catawba in 2013 and fell to Anderson 4-3 last year.
In some respects, those losses could be the result of unlucky draws. The Eagles losses to the Pioneers and Indians came in the years where those teams were hosting the league tournament, much like how the Eagles play the tournament host this season.
The Eagles and Cobras split the regular season series to open up conference play way back on March 16. Coker took game one 3-0 before the Eagles earned the twinbill split with a 4-1 win to close out the day.
"You hope that you're playing better," Kazee-Hollifield said. "That was our first conference outing. They are a scrappy ball club that will come out and attack the ball. They'll attack you with offspeed pitching, we'll have to be ready for that."
Of the 14 previous meetings, nine have involved a shutout, including seven of the last nine.
Carson-Newman's bats have worked well all season; the Eagles lead the league in most offensive categories. However, they've been particularly prodigious at smashing taters of late. The Eagles have hit seven home runs in their last four games.
Carson-Newman's Elayna Siebert and Bre Lockett ended up with a duel for the league's batting title. Lockett won it with a .465 average, Siebert finished second with a .434 average.
Coker will provide a live stream of the 3:30 p.m. game at cokercobras.com. Live stats will be available at cneagles.com/live.
