JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Looking to win its fourth South Atlantic Conference series in five tries, Carson-Newman hosts Lincoln Memorial for a three-game set starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday wrapping up with a doubleheader on Sunday at noon from the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.
"We still haven't played for what we are expecting," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "We have a lot of new guys. It still has not soaked into them and become their DNA as far as how we want to do things at the plate and on the base paths. Whether you are a freshman or a transfer, it takes a full year before you are in because a lot of times you have something from the past that is still there."
On the mound, the Eagles have tallied more swings and misses in March striking out 10.37 batters per nine innings in 15 games versus 7.31 over 16 outings in February. The hurlers have fanned 10 or more batters in back-to-back games and seven times after doing so thrice in the first month of the season.
The two programs have clashed 81 times with Lincoln Memorial (19-10, 6-6) clinging to a one-game edge at 41-40. Carson-Newman (16-15, 8-4) has won seven of the last nine and despite losing two out of three in last year's regular-season series, the club won in the SAC Tournament in a Thursday night single elimination game 2-1 behind 7 1/3 innings of one-run baseball from Matt Bradley.
Looking back at the four games from 2022, the teams were evenly matched in almost every statistical category. Two areas stick out from the situational numbers. Despite seeing leadoff hitters reach at a .455 clip, the Orange and Blue went 12-for-51, .235, with runners in scoring position compared to 10-for-32, .313, from its counterparts. The Railsplitters tallied 14 hits with two outs compared to the Eagles' seven.
To open the year, Lincoln Memorial won each of its first 10 games before losing at Erskine on Feb. 21. Since that point, the team is 9-10 but had won four in a row before a 6-2 loss at North Georgia on Wednesday. The group lost its first three league series of the year before sweep Tusculum last weekend.
Coach Justin Haywood's team touts one of the best pitching staffs in the region ranking second in the conference with a 4.22 team ERA walking 3.72 batters per nine innings and giving up less than nine runs per outing. Only one team, Lander on Feb. 11, has scored double digits against the 'Splitters with 18 scoring five runs or fewer. There have been nine occasions with double-digit hits allowed including four of the last seven.
Preseason second-team hurler Patrick Queener ranks third in the league with a 2.02 ERA, 56 strikeouts and a 1.15 WHIP. The senior has worked at least seven inning four times with at least eight punch outs in each of the last five games. He has pitched against the Eagles four times in his career allowing 10 runs over 21 innings with 22 strikeouts, 16 hits allowed and six walks after taking the loss in the postseason matchup despite allowing one run over six stanzas.
The pitching staff gets helped by the conference's best defense racking up a .972 fielding percentage committing 30 errors in 29 games. LMU has committed multiple errors in eight games this year with nine affairs without a miscue. However, the group has at least one in eight of the last nine, 13 total.
In the batter's box, the fighting 16th Presidents are fifth in the league in scoring with seven on average ranking in the top 15 nationally with 72 stolen bases. Of the team's seven games with at least 10 runs, five were in February. The team has 20 games with at least two steals.
Andrew Keene is the team's leading run producer driving in at least one run in 15 of his 25 outings with 17 extra-base hits and 28 driven in for the year. He has also stolen nine bases. Last season, the C-N pitching staff slowed him down to the tune of 1-for-12 at the plate but Keene drew four walks.
Carson Boles was 4-for-14 against the Eagles last year but enters this weekend's series red hot with hits in eight games in a row going 13-for-32, .406, with two homers and seven RBIs since last failing to tally a knock against Anderson in game one of the March 18 doubleheader.
All three games 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.
- CN -
