JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – During a busy week of travel, Carson-Newman gears up for a three-game series against first-year South Atlantic Conference member UVa-Wise starting on Friday at 2 p.m. with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at noon.
The two programs have played nine times since the start of the 2015 season with the Eagles coming away with victories in eight and wins in all seven home affairs against the Cavaliers. The only victory for UVa-Wise (11-10, 3-6) came on March 22, 2016 at Wise, a 10-4 decision.
In that game, Wise scored the first five runs of the game jumping ahead after three innings using a five-run fifth frame to push the lead to 10-2. It was the loss for the Eagles is the first setback against a school from Virginia in 10 total contests since April 30, 1997 when Virginia Intermont earned a 4-2 victory.
Since that meeting Carson-Newman (15-10, 5-4) has won each of the last six contests, all in Jefferson City, outscoring the Cavaliers 68-21 during that stretch racking up double-digit runs three times and not allowing more than five in any of those affairs.
Last season, the clubs squared off on Feb. 19 at Mossy Creek with the Eagles winning 9-4 needing a five-run seventh inning to blow open a 4-3 contest. Logan Cogburn (Friendsville, Tenn.) hurled five scoreless stanzas to lead 22nd-ranked Carson-Newman. The righty pitched a season-high five frames allowing three hits and two walks while striking out a pair leaving five on base through his time on the rubber.
Each of the top seven in the C-N lineup reached base at least one time with three producing multi-hit efforts. Jordan Griffin (Ellerslie, Ga.) went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Alan Silva tallied his first-career multi-hit game going 2-for-5 with two runs scored.
Last season, as members of the Mountain East Conference, the team went 26-27 overall going 19-13 in league action. Despite losing the last four games of the regular season, the Cavaliers lost 5-3 in the opening round to top-seeded Shepherd in the league tournament. After beating third-seeded Fairmont State 19-14, they lost 4-2 to second-seeded Notre Dame.
Seventeen of the team's 21 games this season have come on the road with Wise posting a 10-7 in road affairs. The biggest difference comes on the mound where the team posts an ERA of nearly three runs lower on the road racking up 126 punch outs in 129 2/3 innings.
Wise's defense and pitching rank towards the bottom of the league with a team fielding percentage of .943, last in the league, and a team ERA of 7.15, 10th in the conference. After committing three errors in the first seven games of the year, the Cavaliers have 10 games with at least two over the last 14 including each of the six totaling 20 during that sequence.
On the mound, the team has yielding 105 runs in nine conference contests this year. Opponents have produced double-digit hits 10 times this year including at least a dozen over each of the last four contests. Twelve of the team's 13 homers allowed on the year have come against the SAC.
Gabe Wurtz leads the conference in on-base percentage with a .515 mark on the year tallying a team-high 19 RBIs. He is hitting .444 with a couple homers in league affairs posting seven multi-hit games with eight hits during a three-game multi-hit streak.
All three games this weekend will air on the Eagle Sports Network with audio and video streams on cneagles.com/live with the live coverage from the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
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