JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After a week layoff, Carson-Newman (13-7) is back on the road to conclude a 10-game swing away from Mossy Creek with an opponent it hasn't faced in five years.
The Eagles take on North Greenville (13-10) Wednesday at 1 p.m. for the first time since 2011 at Jan McDonald Field.
The Crusaders enter the matchup off a doubleheader split with Lander Monday, while the Eagles haven't seen the field since splitting with Concord in Athens last Wednesday.
The last time the teams met in Tigerville, they swapped eight inning wins. The Eagles rallied from a five-run deficit in the first game to take an 8-7 decision before the Crusaders won their first game in the series with a 3-2 victory in the nightcap.
Kristen Toppel (Roanoke, Va.) is in the midst of a career-long hitting streak by reaching successfully on a base hit in 16 consecutive games. She is three games away for tying Kelli Hensley for the third longest hitting streak in school history.
Katie Pritchett (Ringgold, Ga.) hammered the ball last week for the Eagles. She's notched base hits in 11 of her last 13 trips to the plate. She also has a pair of home runs in her last eight at bats and tied C-N's school record with three doubles in a single game against Concord.
Elayna Siebert (Knoxville, Tenn.) ranks eighth among active Division II players with 13 career triples - a figure that puts her 11th all-time in SAC history and second all-time in Carson-Newman history.
The Eagles will once again be taking on a potent offense. NGU boasts the top scoring offense in Conference Carolinas with 6.78 runs per game - also 20th in the nation.
North Greenville is led by Carson O'Donald. She is hitting .387 with a home run and eight RBI. O'Donald is the top bat in NGU's line up, which features seven players who hit .300 or better.
Kate Lee is the top run producer for NGU. With a .340 average, she's driven in a team-best 16 runs with a team-best six doubles and three home runs.
O'Donald is also NGU's top arm. She sports a 4.30 ERA across nine appearances and five starts. Opponents are hitting .247 against her. She has 31 strikeouts in 46.0 innings of work.
The games will be broadcast on the Eagle Sports Network with a free audio stream at cneagles.com/live.
