JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Due to the threat of wet weather later in the week, Carson-Newman (12-4) has moved up its twinbill with Belmont Abbey (2-10-2) to Monday at 1 p.m. at the Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Softball Complex.
The Eagles have split back-to-back doubleheaders after winning nine consecutive. C-N took the front end of a doubleheader with Erskine 10-2 in a run-rule win before falling in the night cap 8-2. The reverse happened Friday against Georgia College. The Bobcats took a game-one win 6-2 before the Eagles rallied in the night cap 5-2.
Carson-Newman will try to correct the defensive issues it had Friday against the Bobcats. C-N made nine errors between the two games of the doubleheader – the most in a doubleheader for the program since the year 2000.
Abby Fiessinger (Benton, Ky.) has been a major bright spot for the Eagles to open up the season.
The freshman rides a 16-game hitting streak to start the season for the Eagles. Tt is tied with Kristen Toppel for the fourth longest streak in school history. Only Kelli Hensley (19), Angel Bales (25) and Sammi Hatcher (33) have hit successfully in more consecutive games for the Eagles.
Fiessinger is second in the league in batting average (.511) and second in home runs (five). Fiessinger has the top bat for a Carson-Newman offense that is hitting .332 as a team, and averages 5.75 runs per game.
Seven of the Eagles regulars are hitting better than .300 on the season.
The Eagles will be going for a 13th straight wins over Belmont Abbey. Since losing to Belmont Abbey 4-3 in the second game of a 2006 doubleheader, the Eagles have outscored BAC 105-15 on a 12- game win streak.
Belmont Abbey is the only team to give up 20+ runs on two occasions to C-N. The 28 runs C-N scored on the Crusaders in the first meeting between the two teams in 1996 are the second most all-time the Eagles have scored.
The Crusaders' pitching staff has struggled this season. Opponents are hitting .351 off Belmont Abbey pitching. In 86.2 innings pitched, Belmont Abbey has given up 129 hits. Teams have nearly has many doubles (26) against the Crusaders as the BAC pitching staff has strikeouts (31). .
First pitch between the Eagles and Belmont Abbey is set for 1 p.m. Coverage of the contest will be available on the Eagle Sports Network with a free high definition stream at cneagles.com/live.
