JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – When Carson-Newman (18-6) clashes with Erskine (9-9) Monday at 2 p.m. doubleheader at The Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Softball Complex, the Eagles will be looking to stay perfect in the month of March.
Carson-Newman has won seven straight games, a season-long winning streak, including the first six in March. That includes sweeps of regional powers Limestone (Southeast Region) and New Haven (East Region).
The Eagles have outscored their opposition 45-10 on the streak and are hitting .355 as a team.
Morgan Crawford (Chickamauga, Ga.) and Lacie Rinus (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) are batting .778 and .583 on the streak, respectively. Katie Pritchett (Ringgold, Ga.), Leah Sohm (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Cheyenne Boles (Knoxville, Tenn.) are all hitting north of .400.
Haley Caldwell (Kenova, W.Va.) has driven in 10 with three bombs, three doubles and a .357 average.
Carson-Newman is hitting .348 with runners in scoring position after tallying a .222 average for that stat for the month of February.
Carson-Newman's pitching hasn't been too shabby either on the recent good run of form. Opponents are hitting .165 off the Eagles. Rinus has a 0.62 ERA for the streak
The Eagles enter the twinbill with Erskine fresh off Friday's doubleheader sweep of New Haven. In that game, Caldwell became the first Eagle to homer twice in one game since Boles took two trips to tater town last year against Benedict.
Carson-Newman and Erskine have already met once this season, splitting a doubleheader. Erskine took game one back on Feb. 6, 1-0, before the Eagles pounded out a season-high 13 runs for a 13-0, five-inning, run-rule win in the nightcap.
Pitching was the story of game one that day in a duel between the Eagles' Rinus and Erskine's Morgan Hendricks.
Hendricks kept Carson-Newman off-balance all game one and struck out seven. The Eagles' pitching wasn't too shabby either. Lacie Rinus limited the Flying Fleet's damage to a run in game one with seven strikeouts. Morgan Crawford only allowed two base runners to get into scoring position in the night cap.
Ashlyn Cooper (Friendsville, Tenn.) brought some lumber to the party in Due West in game two. Cooper reset her career high for runs batted in a single game with four. She was 3-for-3 at the plate and clobbered her sixth career home run.
Cooper, Haley Caldwell (Kenova, W.Va.) and Janelle Benzick (Virginia Beach, Va.) all went yard in game two. Cooper, Caldwell and Abby Fiessinger (Benton, Ky.) had multi-hit days. Cooper, Caldwell, Taylor Scott (Hungtinton, W.Va.) and Benzick drove in multiple runs.
Coverage of the doubleheader will be available on the Eagle Sports Network online at cneagles.com/live.
