JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman begins its 31st season of softball with a familiar foe. The Eagles open the season with Lees-McRae (1-1) an opponent they've seen on the diamond continuously since 1997.
"I think our kids are ready to play more than I am," head coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said with a chuckle. "I still want to iron out all those kinks, but practice might be getting old for them."
First pitch Thursday is slated for 1:30 p.m. for a doubleheader at the Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Softball Complex.
Of the 35 previous meetings with Lees-McRae, Carson-Newman has won 20 via a shutout win. The Eagles have won eight straight against Lees-McRae dating back to a 2011 loss to LMC, a 13-6 triumph for the Bobcats.
On the win streak, the Eagles have outscored the Bobcats 59-3. However, these may not be the Bobcats of past. LMC opened the year with a split of Anderson.
The Bobcats earned the win with a first inning run while Dutton twirled a four-hit shutout.
Junior Sarah Stallings broke the school record with her 45th career stolen base in top of the first.
She reached on a throwing error to open play before advancing to third on a Kara Cunningham single.
With sophomore Sarah Tucker batting, LMC executed a double steal perfectly, with Cunningham swiping second and Stallings stealing home.
AU threatened in the bottom of the sixth with a leadoff single from Molly Child. Child advanced to third following an error and sacrifice bunt. Dutton buckled down and struck out Pena and got Bivins to flyout
"If we weren't ready, that's (LMC's win over Anderson) definitely a wakeup call," Kazee-Hollifield said. "But we'll never take a team for granted. But to get a win at Anderson. You're doing something right if you do that. I just hope we pick up where we left off as far as being hungry."
Carson-Newman looks to improve to 26-2 all-time in opening day games. C-N's only opening day losses came in 1997 to Division I Radford 2-0 and in 2011 at Bellarmine 2-0. C-N's largest margin of victory on opening day came in 1992 with an 18-0 decision over Trevecca Nazarene.
"Two things are so critical for opening days," Kazee-Hollifield said. "Your pitchers will hopefully will be ahead of the hitters and be a step ahead in that regard. Secondly, emphasize not making mental mistakes early on."
Lees-McRae went 6-40 last season and 0-10 against SAC competition. Carson-Newman is 20-2 the last two seasons against Conference Carolinas competition. The Eagles lone two losses came in a doubleheader sweep at the hands of Erskine in Due West.
The Eagles are led by a quartet of preseason All-SAC selections in Elayna Siebert (Knoxville, Tenn.), Lindsay Dean (Coeburn, Va.), Kristen Topple (Roanoke, Va.) and Talisa Fiame (Pacifica, Calif.).
First pitch of the doubleheader Thursday is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Coverage will be available on the Eagle Sports Network with a free high definition stream at cneagles.com/live.
