VIDEO: Vickee Kazee-Hollifield previews Coker
Kazee-Hollifield can become the fifth coach in NCAA Division II to win 300 games in one league at one school if the Eagles split their twinbill with the Cobras. On top of that, should Kazee-Hollifield get to 300 conference wins, she will become the first South Atlantic Conference coach in any sport to accomplish that feat.
"I think it just means I'm old," Kazee-Hollifield said with a laugh. "I think what it really means is that we've had a lot of really good kids and softball players in here. It's a credit to Carson-Newman for enabling us to bring good quality students in here too."
Chris Bellotto (Florida Southern, Sunshine State Conference) has 608 wins. Gary Bryce (Wayne State, GLIAC) follows with 469. Kris Mort (Colorado Mesa, R-MAC (1994-2012)) checks in with 387 and Jamie Apicella (LIU Post, East Coast Conference) rounds out the list of coaches with 300 conference wins with 365.
Kazee-Hollifield will be taking the third-base coaches' box for the 391st time in a SAC matchup Saturday.
"There's a good spirit of competition in this league," Kazee-Hollifield said. "Our conference is tough and nationally known now. This league fights for three or four teams to make regional play each year. When you look at that and the number of victories over the years, I'm very proud that we've had players who have committed to making us good year in and year out."
The Eagles have won six consecutive conference matches after Catawba swept the Eagles March 25. C-N has done it of late with pitching and defense. Over their last 12 games, the Eagles' have only scored more than four runs once.
"I'm elated to see our team going in the right direction in terms of pitching and defense, especially at this time of the year," Kazee-Hollifield said. "If we can light our bats up a little bit more, it'll really help us tremendously down the road. We've left multiple people on base this year. This team I think has worked to get better each and every day."
Allison Webster (Charlestown, Ind.), fresh off a no-hitter, has a 1.11 ERA in South Atlantic Conference play, the second lowest total in the league. Her 61 strikeouts in conference play are also second in the league.
Elayna Siebert (Knoxville, Tenn.) hit her 14th career triple against Anderson to move into second on Carson-Newman's all-time list for the category. Siebert will need a minor miracle to catch Brandi Harden, who hit 32 from 1989-92.
First pitch between the Eagles and Cobras is slated for 1 p.m. Coverage will be available on the Eagle Sports Network with a free high definition stream at cneagles.com/live.
