AIKEN, S.C. – After racking up 14 runs in an Opening Day victory on Wednesday, Carson-Newman hops on the bus for the first time in 2023 travelling to USC Aiken for a three-game series starting on Friday at 4 p.m. looking to keep the bats warm.
"Early in the year as much as we have to win games, the other thing that we have to do is get guys in there," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "We have to use all of our arms to see what we have there. We have to get some guys some opportunities one way or another. If we can't see it in games, we have to see it in our training. We have to make that as game-like as possible so these guys are ready when they get their opportunity. I loved our energy level and the passion that we came out with [on Wednesday]."
After producing 11 games with double-digit runs a year ago, the Eagles wasted no time getting their first of the new year in game No. 1. Since 2015, the club is now 83-3 when producing at least 10 runs in a game and have won 21 straight since a 14-13 setback to Mars Hill on Feb. 28, 2020. The Eagles saw all nine starters score a run in the game for the first time since April 30, 2017 in a win over Catawba in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament, a span of 222 games and 2,103 days.
Carson-Newman (1-0) is facing USC Aiken for the first time in a decade with 38 meetings in the books prior to this weekend, all coming in the Palmetto State. The Pacers hold a 26-12 advantage but 21 of the first 38 affairs have been decided by two or fewer runs. The Eagles have dropped seven of the last nine and have not won a series since sweeping a pair of games in 2004 winning 5-1 and 8-7.
While the teams used to start the year against each other for a half decade stretch in the 1990s, the last meetings came in 2013 when Aiken was ranked fifth in the country. Each game during the series was a shutout with C-N taking game on 8-0 before losing 6-0 and 7-0 to round out the weekend. Chris Armstrong hurled 6 1/3 shutout innings in the opener and three Eagles produced multi-hit days in the win.
USC Aiken finished the 2022 season with a 21-29 overall record and a 12-15 mark in Peach Belt Conference action reaching the league tournament where it took down second-seeded Georgia College in game one 4-1 before dropping the next two games. In the series finale, the Pacers led 2-1 through five and a half innings before giving up two in the sixth falling 4-3.
In this year's preseason poll, the club was projected to finish eighth out of 11 teams with Columbus State sitting atop the table. Coach Michael Holder returns all-region hurler Joel Haney who posted two shutouts a year ago and finished second in the league with a 2.39 ERA thanks to a scoreless streak of 35 innings at one point during the season.
In 2022, the Pacers played seven games against SAC clubs holding a 2-5 record with wins over Coker and Newberry while losing to Lenoir-Rhyne twice. Last year was the first time the program finished under .500 for a campaign since 1999 when the unit went 20-32. Since 2000, the team recorded 18, 30-win year and seven seasons with 40-plus victories.
Last season's group hit 20 home runs but returns its top power hitter in Nick Tripp who blasted six taters a year ago. With the top two batters in terms of batting average gone, Jackson Hannon is the top returning hitter after hitting .291 with 11 extra-base hits and nine stolen bases in 2022.
This weekend's series will have video and stats provided by USC Aiken with updates available by following @CN_Eagles on Twitter and Instagram.
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