JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (13-3, 8-2 South Atlantic Conference) will play four games within a 24 hour period beginning Friday at noon.
The Eagles – winners of eight of their last nine games – begin the weekend Friday at noon against non-conference Bluefield State (0-6). C-N then turns around Saturday to welcome in Newberry for a 1 p.m. first pitch.
"We need continue to bring the offensive energy that we've been bringing as a team for the last three weeks," Carson-Newman head softball coach Michael Graves said. "We played error free and pitched well Tuesday against Wise. We'll be tough to beat if we continue to put those three areas together."
To say Bluefield State has been struggling to start this year would be an understatement. The Big Blue – losers of six straight – has given up 10 or more runs in every game it's played and been run-ruled each game. Bluefield State has given up double-digit runs in an inning twice this season and seen two teams score more than 20 on them.
The Big Blue features a team era of 22.40 and an .836 fielding percentage. Through six games, opponents are hitting .523 off the Big Blue.
Ashlee Brassart has been an offensive bright spot of Bluefield State. She has three hits on the year, all home runs.
Meanwhile, Newberry will be trying to return to form Saturday. The Wolves have lost five straight after they received votes in the NFCA Coaches Poll. Newberry jaunted out to a 10-1 start before faltering in its last five.
The Wolves lost the second game of a doubleheader to Queens after run-ruling the Royals before getting swept by UVa-Wise and a Lincoln Memorial club that is ranked inside the top five.
Newberry has the second lowest team ERA in the league at 2.28 and the second best fielding percentage as well at .979. The Wolves have played error free in four of their last five games while making multiple errors just twice all year.
A productive team at advancing base runners, Newberry is second in the league in both sacrifice hits and sacrifice flies while also ranking 22nd nationally with 16 home runs hit.
Lacie Rinus became Carson-Newman's fourth member of the 600 K club in C-N's game one win over Limestone on March 10. Rinus is fourth all-time in Ks at Carson-Newman. She needs 50 more to catch Carson-Newman Hall of Famer Heather Randolph for third all-time.
Carson-Newman has been swinging the hottest bat in the South Atlantic Conference this season. The Eagles lead the league in batting average and are 16th nationally hitting .370.
The Eagles offense in general has been stratospheric. C-N ranks eighth nationally with a .467 on-base percentage, 10th in runs per game with 8.75 and second in total runs with 140. • C-N has scored nine runs in its last eight wins.
Carson-Newman has been staggeringly good with runners on base. The Eagles are 149-of-403 (.370) with runners. Carson-Newman is hitting .414 with runners in scoring position. Carson-Newman's worst hitter with runners in scoring position is Keeley Quillen. She's batting .333 in those situations. Katie Eakes, Lacie Rinus and Leah Sohm all hit .500 or better in that situation.
Katie Eakes and Shannon Smith have prolific at delivering Eagles across the plate. Eakes and Smith have each driven in 22 and 28 RBI, respectively to rank seventh and third nationally. They are second and third as well as in the SAC. LMU's Audrey Petoskey is the country's leader in RBI with 34.
Leah Sohm has been fleet-of-foot and highly dangerous on the base paths. The senior's 12 stolen bases are first in the conference and 13th nationally.
Carson-Newman has three of the top five batting averages in the league. Sohm is the league's leader with a .523 tally. Lacie Rinus and Katie Eakes are both tied for second at .465.
First pitch between the Eagles and Big Blue Friday is set for noon. First pitch Saturday with the Wolves is slated for 1 p.m. Both games will be available on the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live.
