JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Riding a six-game winning streak, Carson-Newman ties the bow on its longest homestand of the campaign on Tuesday at 3 p.m. hosting Lee at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex angling to improve to 12-2 at home.
The Eagles have a six-game winning streak for the second year in a row rattling off six in a row from March 26 to April 2, 2022. The last string longer than six came from March 5-21, 2021 when the unit reeled off eight consecutive victories. The unit is above .500 for the second time this year and first time since winning its season opener.
Carson-Newman (12-11) has exhibited one of the balanced attacks in the region with nine different players driving in at least 10 runs through the opening 23 games of the year. Ten different players have driven in multiple runs in at least one game this year and 11 have had at least two multi-hit efforts. For perspective, in 2022 only nine players drove in double-digit runs despite 15 posting multi-RBI contests.
Tuesday's outing will be a rubber game of sorts in the 27th meeting between the two clubs with each winning 13 times through the first 26 matchups. The Orange and Blue has won eight of the 14 affairs at Mossy Creek and two of the last three.
Trailing by as many as four runs, Carson-Newman battled back to within two and had the tying run on base in the ninth before falling 6-4 in the first meeting this year after the Flames put up four runs in the bottom of the first. Ryan Potts (Dandridge, Tenn.) and Will Gibbs (Harrisburg, Ill.) each posted a pair of the seven hits for the game. Once again the Eagles' bullpen pitched well giving up two earned runs over five innings scatterings six hits and a pair of walks. Three Flames produced a pair of knocks with Black going 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Lee's bullpen surrendered one earned run over 6 1/3 innings punching out four batters.
Lee (13-10) is coming off of a three-game sweep of Frostburg State racking up a 27-12 run differential in the three-game series to reach its longest winning streak of the year winning six of the last eight games after opening the year 7-8. The Flames are 3-2 against the South Atlantic Conference this year losing once to Mars Hill and once to Lincoln Memorial.
In a crowded Gulf South Conference where eight teams are .500 or better in league action, coach Mark Brew is tied for fifth in a league where Montevallo and West Georgia are at the top of the table. The club has taken two of three at Alabama Huntsville and at Auburn Montgomery while getting one game against West Georgia. The team's three-game winning streak is tied for the second-longest in the league behind Delta State's five-game run.
The Flames are one of the top power-hitting teams in the country ranking third nationally with 35 long balls hitting 1.52 per game hitting at least one homer in all but five games this year. There have been 11 occasions with two-plus dingers including a five-long ball day on March 10. Six players rank in the top 17 of the conference in homers with Riley Black sitting atop the team ledger with six. Overall 10 different players have launched taters.
Three players have at least 20 RBIs for the season led by 25 from Dylan Standifer for a team that has scored a league-leading 171 runs while also leading the league with 14 sacrifice bunts. Standifer drove in six runs over the weekend and has eight multi-RBI efforts.
Lee's pitching staff ranks ninth in the league with a team ERA of 5.75 fanning 8.6 batters per nine innings. The team allowed 11 homers in the first seven games of the year and has allowed 11 in the last 16. The hurlers fanned at least 13 in four of the first five games of the year but has two double-digit efforts since March 11.
Tuesday's game will air on the Eagle Sports Network with video available on FloSports with a paid subscription and an audio-only stream on cneagles.com/live.
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