JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – For the second straight season, Carson-Newman opens a campaign inside of the friendly confines of the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex hosting Mars Hill at 1 p.m. on Wednesday to start the 2023 schedule.
"Early in the year we are really trying to find out what we have," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "We see guys in intrasquads but it's a lot different when you are playing someone else. It's every week and every day you are trying to figure out your club. Whatever our lineup is day one, the chances of that being that way day 50 probably isn't going to happen. Guys have to stay ready. Every one has a role and needs to understand that role. Be the best you can be at the role because you never know when your turn is going to come."
After starting the year on the road in 27 straight seasons since hosting an opener on Feb. 27, 1992 in a 16-9 victory over East Tennessee State, the Eagles start the year at home for the second year in a row. Last year, Matt Coles tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings in a 5-0 win over Milligan as the Buffaloes did not put a man on third base and only two at second for the game.
Since Carson-Newman joined Division II in 1994, the Eagles are 25-4 in home openers including 15-2 under Griffin since he took over in 2006. The Orange and Blue have won 10 straight home openers with their last loss in a lidlifter at home coming on Feb. 21, 2012 when King took home a 10-7 victory.
Since 2015, C-N is 75-46 in February winning double-digit contests in each of the last three non-Covid impact seasons highlighted by a 14-3 start to the year in 2019. For context, the group is a combined 21 games over .500 in the March, April and May.
One area the Eagles could see an uptick is team speed after ranking seventh in the conference with 49 stolen bases a year ago. Four of the team's transfers swiped double-digit bases a year ago with that group going 86-for-95 in stolen base attempts. William Gibbs (Harrisburg, Tenn.) went 29-for-33 in 2022 and Trey Miller (Rocky Point, N.Y.) was successful in 22 of 25 attempts. Add in Dalton McLain (Greeneville, Tenn.) and Nelson Smith (Goodlettsville, Tenn.) and the quartet swiped 118 bags in 130 attempts in two years at junior college stops. James Denten (Mt. Prospect, Ill.) went 11-for-12 as a freshman and stole 17 in two years.
Wednesday will be the 97th meeting with Mars Hill as the Eagles hold a 63-33 overall advantage behind five straight victories since a 14-13 setback on Feb. 28, 2020 at Mossy Creek and seven of the last eight overall. Carson-Newman has won five straight in the series for the first time since a string of five consecutive victories in 2011 and 2012. To find a stretch longer, you have to go back to 2001-04 when the team rattled off 12 wins in succession.
Last year the clubs squared off in a doubleheader on Valentine's Day as C-N improved to 8-0 on the road with 9-5 and 13-9 triumphs. On the day, C-N hitters blasted four home runs and notched 13 extra-base hits out of the 26 pokes for the day as nine different Eagles drove in at least one run during the two-game set.
Picked to finish eighth in the preseason SAC poll, Mars Hill closed out 2022 with an 18-30 overall record and a 9-14 in league action. The team was 12-10 at home but went 6-19 in road games averaging five runs per game away from the mountain hitting .235 fanning 226 times in 25 games. The pitching staff saw its numbers almost equal but gave up 15 fewer homers in three more games on the road.
Zach Honeycutt was promoted to the team's head coach on July 20 after serving as an assistant since 2018 and playing for the program until 2015. He returns preseason first-team All-SAC selection Zach Weaver after a season where he launched 12 homers driving in 45 runs and hitting .321.
The Lions qualified for the league tournament in 2022 as the No. 8 seed holding a 6-0 lead on Catawba through six innings of baseball and took a 6-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth. An error kickstarted a four-run ninth by the Indians to send the contest to extra innings. A failed pick-off attempt with one out in the bottom of the 10th allowed the winning run to score in a 7-6 loss.
On the mound last season, the Lions walked 5.84 batters per nine innings ranked 12th in the league and 215th out of 251 teams in the country. There were 19 games where the hurlers posted as many or more bases on balls as punch outs.
The game will air with a video stream available on FloSports with a subscription while a free audio stream will be available courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network on cneagles.com/live.
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