JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (27-11, 12-8 South Atlantic Conference) is still in contention for the second spot in the SAC standings, and thus, hosting duties for one site of the SAC Championships.
The Eagles are in fact in control of their own destiny with a doubleheader Thursday at Anderson (26-18, 10-12 SAC) at 12:30 and another twinbill Saturday at 1 p.m. at Lenoir-Rhyne. Simply put, if the Eagles win out and Lincoln Memorial doesn't sweep Wingate, Carson-Newman would own the two seed and be the second host for the conference's two-site tournament.
Carson-Newman could still claim the two seed with a split to Anderson. The Eagles would then need to sweep Lenoir-Rhyne, and Wingate would need to sweep Lincoln Memorial.
Meanwhile, Anderson can clinch its spot in the SAC tournament with a win Thursday. A sweep by C-N would mean the Trojans would need Newberry to hand Tusculum a loss Saturday to get in.
Carson-Newman and Anderson have been stuck on a see-saw in the series over the last decade. While Carson-Newman leads the all-time ledger, 40-17, since 2015, the Eagles have a narrow 10-9 edge. The teams have swept each other exactly once each way in that stretch, with C-N pulling it off at The Vick in 2016, and Anderson doing so at Mossy Creek in 2018. Carson-Newman hasn't swept Anderson in the Electric City since 2015. Anderson hasn't swept C-N at home since 2013.
The Eagles' .350 batting average is the top mark in the South Atlantic Conference and ninth-best total in the country. Carson-Newman has kept its batting average north of .350 since March 16. It sat at .322 at the end of February before the Eagles hit .392 as a team for the month of March. Carson-Newman has hit north of .350 in two seasons in school history (1996 - .396; 2022 - .357).
Macey Hughes sits in ninth place in Carson-Newman history for career home runs with 22 - tied with Elayna Siebert (2013-16). Next up on the all-time list is Mandy Stevens, who had 24 from 2005-08.
Freshman Macauley Bailey is the second in the country in runs batted in. The Cross Plains, Tenn.-native has 56. She has driven in a run in 16 of her last 20 games and has 16 games this year where she has driven in multiple runs. The single-season SAC and school record for RBI in a season is 75, held by Carson-Newman's Brittany Hefner (2013). Bailey leads the country in RBI per game with 1.47. Bailey's 56 RBI this season sit in seventh in school history. Four more and she matches Sara Kelley (2014) for sixth all-time.
Macey Hughes drove in eight runs last week to move into the top 10 for a career with 130. Eighth on the all-time list seems within striking distance for Hughes. Rebecca Eldredge (1998-2001) sits in ninth with 133, while Mary Shealey (2009-12) is in eighth with 138.
Anderson first baseman Kayson Boatner became the SAC's all-time leader in RBI with 239 in an AU sweep of Coker on Saturday. Boatner leads all active players in all divisions with 78 career home runs and thoser 239 career RBI. The 78 jacks are good for fourth all-time in NCAA Division II and 12 off Brooke Goad (Southern Arkansas) for the all-time record. She's 13th all-time in Division II history for runs batted in, but can break into the top 10 with five more RBI.
First pitch between the Eagles and Trojans is set for 12:30 p.m. Coverage is available on the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live.
