May 11, 2025

NCAA TOURNAMENT BOUND! C-N locks in Southeast Region berth as seventh seed

For the fifth time in program history, Carson-Newman baseball is bound for the NCAA Tournament.

INDIANAPOLIS – For the fifth time in program history, Carson-Newman baseball is bound for the NCAA Tournament.

The NCAA announced its pairings for the NCAA DII Baseball Tournament with a selection show late Sunday night that announced C-N as the number seven seed.

Of the program's now five NCAA Tournament appearances, this is the third under head coach Tom Griffin and the first since 2008.

"We are very happy for the players who have earned this bid and get to experience the next level of postseason play," Carson-Newman head coach Tom Griffin said. I'm happy for our coaches, our trainer Rachel Jackson and the sports information staff for the work and effort that is put in. This takes a community of people. Also, very happy four our alumni who have set the standard of excellence for many years. Coaches Frosty Holt, Bobby Wilson, Gary Rundles, Brent Achord. Every year, our goal is to make the alum proud of our effort and how we compete. We want to represent our Lord and Savior, families, friends, alumni and community in a first-class manner. These players have done that."

As the number seven seed, Carson-Newman will take on one of the two host teams for the Southeast region, Belmont Abbey in round one. That contest is set for Thursday May 15th at 6:00 p.m. The other matchup in this four-team double-elimination pod consists of the three seed Lenoir-Rhyne and the six seed North Georgia.

Carson-Newman and Belmont Abbey have met 41 times, with the Eagles leading the all-time series 26-15. It will be the first meeting for the two sides in the NCAA Tournament and the first time C-N plays a team against a Conference Carolinas foe in postseason play. Interestingly enough, Carson-Newman's pitching coach Jason White is a Belmont Abbey alum playing there from 2019-2022.

The program's four other NCAA Tournament appearances came during the 1999, 2002, 2007 and 2008 seasons. C-N has a 5-9 record with wins in two of its last three NCAA Tournament games.

The Eagles have won regional title in their four NCAA Tournament berths. That regional title came in the program's first NCAA Tournament in 1999. Carson-Newman collected wins over St. Leo and Florida Southern to win the South regional title and advance to the DII Championship series. C-N fell to Kennesaw State and West Virginia State in its first two games of the DII World Series.

Carson-Newman's 37 wins entering the NCAA Tournament is the fourth-most wins in program history. The Eagles also produced their winningest season in South Atlantic Conference play this season, winning 21 of the 30 league games.

Carson-Newman is one of three South Atlantic Conference teams to make the eight-team field. Catawba is the top seed in the Southeast and will host the other four-team pod. The Indians will play the eight seed Lander with Young Harris and North Greenville making up the four and five seed.

The winner of the two separate four team brackets will play a championship series to decide who will represent the Southeast region at the DII College World Series in Cary, North Carolina. Opening round play begins Thursday afternoon at 6:00 p.m. All of C-N's games this weekend at the NCAA tournament will air with a free audio stream available courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network on cneagles.com/live.