SALISBURY, N.C. – Carson-Newman opens South Atlantic Conference action with a tough road challenge visiting seventh-ranked Catawba for a four-game series Saturday and Sunday. First pitch from Newman Park each day is slated for 1 p.m. with seven-inning games opening the afternoon.
"Jim Gantt at Catawba and his staff does a tremendous job," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "It's a veteran club that has been there and done that and played with each other for a long period of time. The barometer for us is ourselves. How do we become the best version of ourselves? How do we compete against the baseball? The old Bull Durham, you have to catch the ball, you have to throw the ball and you have to hit the ball. Those are the things we have to do – play against the baseball and do what we do best. If you play clean, whatever happens happens. You can rest your head and sleep well at night. If you don't and give teams extra outs and aren't competing with two strikes, don't extend at bats and don't put balls in play, any club is going to have a chance to win that game."
Carson-Newman (5-2) has won six of its last eight SAC openers. Overall, the program 18-12 in the first conference contest of the year going 18-11-1 in the opening series. In five of the last nine seasons, the Eagles have begun the year with a sweep going 9-3 in series sweeps over the first 28 years as a member of the league.
Under Griffin, the Eagles are 25-50 against nationally-ranked opponents. As a Division II member, C-N is 39-80-1 overall when facing a top-30 club in any NCAA Division. The program is 11-25-1 against top-10 clubs. The Eagles have played six three-game sets against top 10 teams since 1998 coming out on the short end each time. In that period, the program is 11-27-1 against such clubs but 6-8 over the last six seasons.
The Eagles have faced off against Catawba (4-2, 3-1) 109 times entering this weekend's four-game series trailing 66-43 with a 13-25 record at Newman Park. The Indians have won six straight and 14 of last 17. C-N's last win came on March 9, 2018 in the series opener at Mossy Creek with the last series win coming to open conference action in 2015.
Catawba has entered a game against Carson-Newman ranked 27 times prior this weekend winning 22 and all seven series but the Eagles have won two of the last six, both coming in the conference tournament in 2013 and 2017.
The two programs have played a series in Salisbury on 11 occasions with C-N winning the series four times. The Eagles swept a three-game slate on March 16-17, 1996 while taking two of three in 1998, 2003 and 2007. Since winning the series in 2007, the Orange and Blue are 2-11 losing seven straight affairs since a 4-3 triumph in the series finale against a No. 15 club on March 31, 2012.
When the teams last played each other, Catawba held serve on its home field sweeping Carson-Newman over a three-game set on March 16-17, 2019 outscoring the Eagles 17-7. Neither side hit above .290 on the weekend but the tribe's pitchers yielded a total of three walks and fanned 22 in 25 innings on the bump.
Four active Eagles posted a knock in the series with Tyler Thompson (Gallatin, Tenn.) leading the current crop going 3-for-10 with a double, a stolen base and a run scored. Three 2021 hurlers pitched in the series as Kyle Cagle (Fairview, N.C.) and Hunter Long (Powell, Tenn.) combined to allow two earned runs in 5 1/3 innings.
Catawba was selected to the regular-season title having sealed the deal in six of the last seven regular campaigns advancing to the College World Series in 2019. Last year the Indians had one of their best teams going 19-3 overall with an 8-1 mark against the conference. Catawba was outscoring opponents 196-84 at the time of the shutdown.
Since the start of the 2019 season, the club is 70-18 overall with a 28-9 mark in the conference. The Indians have won four straight SAC series at home since dropping two of three to Wingate on Feb. 24-25, 2019. In the last three years it has posted a 32-5 mark in Salisbury.
To start the year coach Jim Gantt's team beat Lincoln Memorial in Harrogate 12-11 in 10 innings before taking three of four to open league action at Lenoir-Rhyne. However the one loss came in the seven-inning game on Sunday where Andrew Patrick threw the first no-hitter by a Bear since 1997.
The offense has yet to fully kick into gear with the team hitting .233 posting an on-base percentage of .323 with a total of three home runs. Three players have driven in eight-plus runs led by Jeremy Simpson's nine.
On the mound, the pitching staff has given up 11 homers with at least one in every game and two or more in four of the five. Strikeouts have been up and down with two double-digit days and a trio of six or fewer.
Hunter Shepherd, one of the top two-way players in the country, is one of the team leaders at the plate with a homer and eight RBIs on a .300 batting average throwing five innings on the mound. In 2019 he went 3-for-7 at the plate with a long ball while throwing 6 1/3 scoreless stanzas to earn the win in the finale.
Video for this weekend's affair will be produced by Catawba by clicking here with updates available all weekend long by following @CNathletics on Twitter.
- CN -
