YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – Meeting Young Harris for the fifth time, Carson-Newman seeks its first win over the Mountain Lions Tuesday afternoon visiting Zell B. Miller Field for a 2 p.m. first pitch from the Peach State putting an end to a four-game road trip.
The Eagles are 6-1 on the road to begin the season and have been more potent offensively in road affairs through seven game. At the plate, the club is hitting nearly 20 points higher and have scored nine more runs in two fewer contests. On the mound the pitching staff has allowed two homers in 60 innings pitched versus 13 in 77 at home on the year posting a higher strikeouts per nine inning ratio.
Carson-Newman (11-5) and Young Harris (8-3) have played four times since the first meeting in 2013 with the Mountain Lions coming out ahead in each of the four outings. The Orange and Blue have been outscored 40-16 in those four affairs.
Last season in a home-and-home battle, Young Harris won 8-6 at home and 10-4 at Mossy Creek limiting the Eagles to a .232 batting average but the biggest issue came on the mound. C-N hurlers walked 15 and hit five batters in 17 innings giving up 22 hits allowing the Mountain Lions to post a .310 average in two outings.
Carson-Newman's three top hitters are no longer on the team with Ethan Goforth, Alan Silva and John Sharpe combining to go 10-for-22 with the rest of the roster getting six knocks. Only Tyler Thompson (Gallatin, Tenn.) had an extra-base hit of the returning hitters.
Young Harris is coming off of a 36-21 2019 season claiming its first-ever Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship taking down USC Aiken 5-2 in the finals earning its first trip to the NCAA's National Tournament. The Mountain Lions played in the same regional as Catawba and Newberry getting the best of the Wolves in an elimination game, 5-1, before losing for the second time to eventual regional champion Catawba.
The biggest offensive piece from that team that graduated was Zavier Lushington, an all-region pick and the Peach Belt Tournament MVP. The power-hitting outfielder hit .351 with 13 homers and 60 RBIs swiping nine bags in the process.
Coach Stephen Waggener also has to replace his top bullet in the bullpen, left-hander Matt Rogers, an Academic All-American. The southpaw fanned 43 in 41 2/3 innings posting a team-leading 2.38 ERA.
The Mountain Lions have not missed a beat to open the 2020 season 8-3 despite playing just one game at home to open the year. After losing two straight, the club won the final two games Georgia Southwestern in a three-game set that featured a dozen total runs between the clubs.
Waggener's pitching staff has been a major strong suit this season so far posting a team ERA of 3.65 striking out 113 batters in 91 1/3 innings giving up a .212 batting average against. Mississippi College and Tusculum scored 16 and 11 respectively. If you take those games out, the staff has four shutouts and yielded a dozen runs in nine games.
At the plate, the team has not quite found a rhythm posting a .228 average with only two players hitting above .265 this year. Dahlton Cash leads the way with a .333 clip while Oscar Serratos is the top run producer with three blasts and seven runs driven in.
Follow @CNathletics for all of the latest news and notes during the three-game series with full coverage provided on cneagles.com.
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