JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After spending the first three weeks of the season on the road, Carson-Newman (5-3) finally takes the field at the Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Softball Complex welcoming Limestone (8-4) to down for a 1 p.m. doubleheader.
The Eagles enter after being swept by Lee in Cleveland, Tenn. – it marked the first time Carson-Newman had suffered a sweep since Catawba took two from Carson-Newman on March 23, 2019.
"We can't take strikes like we did against Lee and expect to win," Carson-Newman head softball coach Michael Graves said. "In game one alone we took 25. That's not a recipe for winning softball at the plate."
Carson-Newman has won 16 straight home openers. In fact, as far back as we have data (2003), Carson-Newman hasn't ever lost its first home game of the year. The Eagles' only loss in the second game of a home-opening doubleheader in the last decade came at the hands of Bellarmine, 6-2 in 2012.
Carson-Newman is looking to extend a 14-game non-conference home winning streak. The Eagles haven't fallen at home outside of league action since dropping game two of a doubleheader to King 9-3 on Feb. 15, 2018. On the 14-game home non-conference win streak, the Eagles have collected four run-rule wins in that span.
While King's 9-3 win on Feb. 15, 2018 represents Carson-Newman's last home defeat to a non-conference foe, it also represents the last win by a Conference Carolinas program over the Eagles. C-N has won 15 straight against the league, and are 61-13 against schools from the conference over the last seven seasons. Limestone has a third of those wins.
Carson-Newman has won four straight against Limestone, but they've been by tight margin. Three of the Eagles four wins came by one run. The series has been split 4-4 over the last four years. Prior to that, the Eagles won 24 of the first 25 games the teams played.
The Eagles tallied a pair of 2-1 wins over the Saints last year.
Caroline Ruth and Haley White lead Limestone in the circle. Ruth carries a 2.76 ERA with a 4-1 record, while White has been a hard-luck loser with a 2-3 mark in spite of a 1.60 ERA.
"Both Limestone's pitchers do a good job at keeping the ball down and working the corners," Graves said. "We need to swing at good pitches and take what they give us."
Meanwhile, Morgen Baker-Celis (Kentfield, Calif.) has shouldered the pitching load for the Eagles with a 2.58 ERA and 2-0 record. He has 19 Ks to lead the team.
"Morgen has been great," Graves said. "She's not the hardest thrower, but her ball moves well and she's kept it down and kept hitters guessing. She's been who we've relied upon to keep us in ball games."
The Eagles have fallen in love with the long ball early this season. Carson-Newman has clobbered 10 home runs in eight games. The Eagles are third nationally in home runs per game with 1.25.
Abby Fiessinger's next home run will give her 29 for her career and move her into sole possession of fourth place on the all-time bombs list.
First pitch between the Eagles and Saints is set for 1 p.m. Coverage will be available on the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live.
