JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (18-10, 8-0 South Atlantic Conference) will try to equal its best start in league play in seven years when it heads to Newberry (16-14, 4-4 SAC) for a 1 p.m. doubleheader Sunday at the Smith Road Complex.
Carson-Newman has a chance to start 9-0 in league play for the first time since 2017. The Eagles won their first 10 conference games that season en route to sharing the regular season SAC title with Lenoir-Rhyne.
"Newberry is a good team and they are always scrappy," Carson-Newman head softball coach Michael Graves said. "Mitch Smith has done a nice job taking over the Ciria Triplett. They still have a similar DNA to what she instilled in that program. He's done a good job replacing what they lost from a year ago."
Newberry has the second-best fielding percentage in the conference and the 11th best in the country at .977. The Wolves are the only team to hand top-15 Wingate a league loss.
After starting the season 2-8, Carson-Newman has rattled off 16 wins in its last 18 games. The Eagles are hitting .360 as a team in that stretch while averaging 9.22 runs per game. The Eagles have socked 29 home runs in that stretch. Hayden Dye has been especially prolific in the last 16. She's hitting .490 with 11 extra base hits in her 25 knocks in that stretch. Dye has driven in 30 runs during this run of good form.
Macey Hughes sits in seventh place place in Carson-Newman history for career home runs with 26. She sits tied with Lisa Rogers for seventh. Hall of Famer Whitney Hickam sits in sixth with 27 career blasts, while All-American Brittany Hefner is in fifth with 28. Sara Kelley (2010-14) holds the program's all-time record with 35. Hughes is also top 10 all-time in RBI with 155. She sits in sixth, needing two more RBI to move into the top five all-time. Mandy Stevens occupies that spot with 157 all-time. Bri Shoemake is six away with 161 in fourth.
With 11 home runs this season, Brooke Matyasovsky leads the South Atlantic Conference in jacks. She ranks seventh nationally. The nation's leader - Valdosta State's Abby Sulte - has 21 home runs.
Matyasovsky has been on an absolute tear to get to 11 home runs. Matyasovsky has homered nine times in her last 32 at-bats. That amounts to a home run in every 3.55 trips to the plate.
The Eastern Connecticut State transfer has especially been on a torrid pace in this 18 game stretch. She has 18 hits and is batting .367. Of those 18 hits, 15 are for extra bases (five doubles and 10 home runs).
Freshman Trinity Brooks has rounded into form on this winning streak. She's batting .394. With 13 hits and four walks, she has scored a run 76.9 percent of the time she has reached base in the Eagles' last 18 games.
In the last 18 games, Emma Frost has a 1.68 ERA and a 7-1 record in 11 appearances with nine starts. She's struck out 65 in 50.0 innings against just seven walks. Opponents are hitting just .229 off her. Frost leads the SAC in strikeout to walk ratio.
First pitch between the Eagles and Wolves is set for Sunday at 1 p.m. A video stream of the games can be accessed with a subscription to FloSports. Follow @CN_Eagles on Twitter for live updates for the games.
