JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – One of three unbeaten teams left in South Atlantic Conference play, Carson-Newman (14-10, 4-0 SAC) welcomes its first league opponent to The Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Softball Complex for a 1 p.m. first pitch Saturday.
C-N takes on Mars Hill (9-13, 0-4 SAC) having won its last five games, both overall and in its series against the Lions. The Eagles lead the all-time ledger against Mars Hill 70-8 heading into the 79th and 80th meetings between the two teams.
The Eagles swept last year's doubleheader at Ponder Field on the strength of five home runs and a dandy pitching performance from Syerra Rogers (Graysville, Tenn.). She struck out 15 – the second most in a game in school history, and carried a no-hitter into the fifth en route to a one-hit shutout in the night cap.
After starting the season 2-8, Carson-Newman has rattled off 12 wins in its last 14 games. The Eagles are hitting .355 as a team in that stretch while averaging 9.5 runs per game. The Eagles have socked 24 home runs in that stretch. Hayden Dye has been especially prolific in the last 14. She's hitting .513 with nine extra base hits in her 20 knocks in that stretch. Dye and Macauley Bailey have both driven in 22 in the last 14.
Macey Hughes sits in eighth place in Carson-Newman history for career home runs with 25. Next up on the all-time list is Lisa Rogers, who had 26 from 2003-06. Sara Kelley (2010-14) holds the program's all-time record with 35. Hughes is also top 10 all-time in RBI with 152. She sits in sixth, needing five more RBI to move into the top five all-time. Mandy Stevens occupies that spot with 157 all-time.
Macauley Bailey sits on 24 career home runs, the 13th player in school history with 20 career blasts. Bailey is tied for eighth place, occupied by Mandy Stevens.
With nine home runs this season, Bailey and Brooke Matyasovsky lead the South Atlantic Conference in jacks. They are both tied for ninth nationally. The nation's leader - Valdosta State's Abby Sulte - has 19 home runs.
Matyasovsky has been on an absolute tear to get to nine home runs. Matyasovsky has homered seven times in her last 22 at-bats. That amounts to a home run in every 3.14 trips to the plate.
Carson-Newman ranks 16th nationally and second in the SAC with 29 home runs this season. The Eagles have hit at least one bomb in 10 of their last 12 games.
Mars Hill has been involved in some wild games this year. The Lions are owners of a 19-18 eight-inning win over Converse and a bonkers 14-13 loss to Catawba in two of the highest-scoring games in South Atlantic Conference history. Against Catawba, MHU rallied from an 8-2 deficit to take a 13-9 lead before Catawba plated five runs in the bottom of the seventh to walk it off. MHU and Converse were tied 16-16 after seven before the Lions prevailed with a three-run top of the eighth.
Mars Hill is tied with Carson-Newman for second in the SAC with 29 home runs. Eight different Lions have clobbered at least two this year.
First pitch between the Eagles and Lions is slated for 1 p.m. Saturday. Coverage is available on the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live. A video stream can be found through FloSports with a subscription at cneagles.com/FloSB.
