VIDEO: Vickee Hollifield Interview
The top-seeded Eagles start the tournament Thursday at 3 p.m. at Byerly Park against eighth-seeded Queens (20-27, 6-14 SAC).
Carson-Newman enters the South Atlantic Conference tournament as the one seed for the second time in three seasons. The Eagles have advanced to day two with a win for three straight seasons. Carson-Newman, however, is trying to make it to Saturday play for the first time since 2014.
"We're happy to be the one seed," head softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "However, we can't get all fat and sassy and think we've made it. You can't take anybody lightly. There are eight tough teams at the tournament this year."
The Eagles swept the Royals back on March 19 to open up SAC play 8-0 and 9-1. Carson-Newman smashed four home runs on the day and earned a sweep in its conference-opening doubleheader for a second straight year.
Katie Pritchett (Ringgold, Ga.) homered twice while Kristen Toppel (Roanoke, Va.) and Allison Webster (Charlestown, Ind.) each stroked bombs on the day.
Every Eagle who played reached base and C-N only saw two Queens base runners make it to third on the day.
The Eagles were particularly adept at smashing extra-base hits. C-N finished with an octet of hits that were better than singles. Of the Eagles 21 hits on the day, 38 percent were for extra bases.
C-N went 12-for-34 with runners on base, while Queens was 1-for-16.
"It seems like ages ago that we played them," Kazee-Hollifield said. "That's an athletic team that has pitching, speed and they can swing bats well. I told their coach after our game that I thought they'd beat some teams this year, and they have. They are a dangerous group."
Carson-Newman is looking for its first 40 win season since 2008. The Eagles set a school record with 48 wins that year. That's also one of the last second to last year C-N brought home a tournament title. C-N is looking for its first tournament crown since 2009, when it won the tourney as a four seed and went on to a Super Regional Appearance.
This is Carson-Newman and Queens first ever meeting in the SAC tournament. The Royals are making their second ever appearance in the tournament. Last year they knocked out LMU and Wingate before losing to Lenoir-Rhyne
"We've got to get back to taking aggressive cuts," Kazee-Hollifield said. "We have to be aggressive at the plate and take good cuts against good pitching."
First pitch between the Eagles and Royals is set for 3 p.m. Follow @CNAthletics on Twitter for live in-game updates.
