JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – With the first home South Atlantic Conference series on tap, Carson-Newman closes out the first month of 2020 by host Mars Hill for a three-game set starting on Friday at 2 p.m. finishing with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at noon.
"I don't know if we have learned enough," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "The season is flying. We are still working on some things. When it comes to starting pitching, who is your midweek starter? Who is your No. 3 starter? In the pen, there are some guys we haven't been able to use enough. The pitching part of it there is still some question marks.
"On the offensive side we have some good depth but we have some hitters we have not gotten enough live action with to get a gauge of their effectiveness. That's why we have another two months to play."
Carson-Newman (11-5, 2-1) has met Mars Hill (4-10, 2-1) have met 90 times entering the weekend with the Eagles holding the lead in the series at 58-32 with a 28-16 mark at home. However, the Lions have swept the series in their last two visits to Mossy Creek and have won eight straight since C-N's last win, an 11-3 victory on March 7, 2014. Quinton Yocom fanned eight over seven innings with Peter Rajkovich and Cody Fox tallying three hits apiece.
Last season the Eagles snapped an eight-game skid to the Lions winning 14-7 and 12-4 in a doubleheader on March 2 with the final game of the series being rained out. At the plate, the team launched six home runs and reached base at a .533 clip.
Tyler Thompson (Gallatin, Tenn.) was one of four Eagles to rack up at least four hits going 5-for-8 with a home run, five RBIs and five runs scored. Jordan Griffin (Ellerslie, Ga.) piled up four hits including two homers driving in six runs. Of the nine players with at least four at-bats in the series, each one recorded at least two hits and four had four knocks.
On the rubber, C-N's hurlers were overpowering racking up 23 strikeouts in 16 innings giving up a .297 batting average against. Matt Bradley (Talbott, Tenn.) tallied five strikeouts over four, one-run frames as one of the eight pitchers that the Eagles used in the series.
In the preseason SAC poll, Mars Hill was slotted to finish 11th earning 11 more points than first-year member UVa-Wise. In 2019, the Lions finished a half game above Queens for last place in the league standings thanks to playing one fewer game. It gave up 212 runs in league action, 27 more than the next closest team.
Hunter Bryant has taken the over the program after spending three years as an assistant to Aaron Rembert. The first-year skipper played at UNC Asheville graduating in 2015 finishing in the top 10 in numerous career tallies including eighth in hits and 10th in RBIs.
"I am very happy for Hunter to get that job," Griffin said. "When Aaron Rembert was there he owned us. We did not do well versus Mars Hill and could never find a way to win a series or anything. I thought Hunter did a really good job with that club not only recruiting but with the offense as well."
Mars Hill is one of five teams, along with C-N, to take two out of three games in the opening conference weekend sitting a game behind undefeated Catawba. The Lions swept UVa-Wise racking up 35 runs and hitting four homers taking the series despite walking 20.
At the plate, three different players have multiple homers with Ruben Trillo pacing the team with three posting a .316 batting average and a team-high 15 RBIs. Jordan Lathe is hitting .333 with 10 of his 15 hits going for extra bases including eight doubles.
Pitching continues to be an issue for Mars Hill giving up more than eight runs per game, the most on average in the league this season. Walks have been the biggest issue yielding a SAC-high 81 bases on balls walking seven or more in six of the 14 contests on the year.
After not giving up a home run in the first eight games of the year, teams have hits seven in the last six including two each in the last two outings.
Despite the struggles on the mound, Rollins transfer AJ Chacon has given up no more than three runs in any of his four outings working at least five frames. He has 24 strikeouts and 10 walks in 23 2/3 innings on the rubber giving up one homer.
All of the action will air on cneagles.com/live with audio and video streams available with the Eagle Sports Network taking care of the sights and sounds.
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