SAC slate concludes as C-N visits Coker
HARTSVILLE, S.C. – Looking to tie a bow on one of its best South Atlantic Conference seasons in recent memory, Carson-Newman plays its final three games of the regular year with a visit to Coker starting on Friday night at 6 p.m. wrapping up the series on Saturday at noon with a doubleheader.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
|
|
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | X | 17 | 20 | 2 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 13 | 3 |
|
|
2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | X | 9 | 10 | 1 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 4 |
HARTSVILLE, S.C. – Looking to tie a bow on one of its best South Atlantic Conference seasons in recent memory, Carson-Newman plays its final three games of the regular year with a visit to Coker starting on Saturday at noon wrapping up the series on Sunday at noon with a doubleheader.
The Eagles are 35-17 against the league in April over the past five years winning nine of the last 11 series dating back to 2019. Splitting a doubleheader at Newberry in 2021, the Orange and Blue have won five straight road SAC series in April since losing a pair at Mars Hill on April 22, 2017.
Carson-Newman (23-19, 14-6) are eight-games over .500 in league action, a feat the program has achieved one time since 2008 going 19-11 in 2021. Over that period, the Orange and Blue has finished four or more games above .500 against the SAC four times over 14 years.
Perhaps the biggest reason for the unit's success in league play is because of the bullpen. Despite the starting rotation posting a 6.72 ERA, the relief crew has a 3.27 ERA going 11-2 while opponents are hitting .234. Relievers have fanned 111 and walked 44 in 88 innings. Four pitchers (Jake Wright, Grif Hughes, Hunter Harritan and Tyler Shaver) have logged double-digit innings and all four have an ERA of 2.81 or lower combining for 10 of the 11 wins and all five saves.
The two programs collide after 23 meetings since the series inception in 2014 as C-N leads the all-time series 16-7 including a 7-3 mark in the Palmetto State. The Eagles have won five of the seven series with the lone exceptions coming in the first set and in 2022 when the Cobras took two out of three in each.
In the three-game series in Jefferson City a year ago, the Eagles were held to a .231 team batting average but were only outscored by one run for the weekend. The Snakes blasted six homers and tallied 11 extra-base hits winning the series after trailing 1-0 going into the ninth, tying the score and winning in the 11th.
Coker enters the weekend eliminated from the league tournament sitting in 11th in the standings, four games out of the No. 8 spot. The Cobras had lost nine of their last 10 prior to winning their last two outings, both non-conference games at Barton and against Augusta.
Coach Fico Kondla's ranks last in the conference in team batting average (.259), doubles (63) and slugging percentage (.505) while scoring the second-fewest runs at 5.6 per game. Coker has been held to three runs or fewer 20 times for the year but has scored 13 and 15 in the last two outings. Ten of the team's 23 homers came against Emory & Henry in the March series.
Three players rank in the top nine in the conference in stolen bases for a team that is ninth nationally with 115 being successful on 80 percent of attempts. The Cobras have swiped 11 in the last three games and has 24 efforts with at least two including a pair of 10-steal efforts against Lincoln. Jaylen Mack leads the way with 21 but has not stolen one in his last eight since an April 2 game against Wingate.
On the mound, the hurlers are allowing a dozen hits per nine innings and fanning less than seven batters per nine frames ranking third from the bottom in both areas. The team has allowed double-digit hits 28 times including three in a row and 10 of the last 16 overall. The team has struck out 10 or more four times.
Each of the team's top two arms in terms of innings pitched are underclassmen led by Jacob Hardy. The rookie has three wins and the club's lone complete game for the year. In seven league starts, he has a 7.16 ERA and as many walks as strikeouts, 20, over 32 2/3 innings.
This weekend's series will air on FloSports with a paid subscription while all of the updates can be found by following @CN_Eagles on Twitter and Instagram.
- CN -
