JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (19-11, 12-10 South Atlantic Conference) enters the final games of South Atlantic Conference play looking to lock up a spot in the league tournament, which begins next Friday.
Standing in the way is Lenoir-Rhyne (16-12, 12-8 SAC). The Eagles and Bears get underway at 2 p.m. Saturday from Bears Field.
Carson-Newman enters the final games of the year with the ability to finish as high as third in the conference standings, but also as low as 10th. The top eight teams make the conference tournament, held this year in Greeneville, Tenn. at Tusculum's Red Edmonds Field. The Eagles enter their final games of the year in seventh.
A sweep of Lenoir-Rhyne would secure C-N a spot in the conference tournament.
"We obviously need a fast start," Carson-Newman head softball coach Michael Graves said. "I've been pleased that we've responded to adversity to battle back in game twos over the last month, but this is the time for us to come out and play a complete 14 innings."
A sweep by Lenoir-Rhyne would not end the Eagles tournament chances, but it would need help. Newberry, Coker and UVA Wise sit in a three-way tie for eighth in the league standings. Carson-Newman would need two of those three schools to finish 2-2 or worse to make the tournament if it were swept.
Newberry has games left with Tusculum and Lenoir-Rhyne, Coker gets Catawba and Mars Hill, while UVA Wise wraps up the year with Mars Hill and Tusculum.
The Eagles have a potential tiebreaker over Coker thanks to C-N's sweep of the Cobras. The Eagles and Cavs split their doubleheader, but C-N has a win over Anderson while UVA Wise does not (wins over higher seeds are the next line in the league's tie-breaking protocols). However, Newberry swept Carson-Newman and thus owns that tiebreaker.
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 with 634. She needs 28 more to catch Carson-Newman Hall of Famer Heather Randolph (662) for third all-time.
The Eagles have been struggling in game ones of doubleheaders of late. Carson-Newman hasn't won the first game of a conference twin bill since beating Limestone 9-1 on March 10. The Eagles have dropped seven straight game ones in league play. The Eagles do have a non-conference game one win against Bluefield State in that span.
If the season were to end today, Shannon Smith would have produced the second-highest slugging percentage in Carson-Newman softball history. She sits at .815 behind Brittany Hefner's absurd .967 from 2013. Smith has tallied hits in 24 of Carson-Newman's last 26 games.
Smith's next home run would give her double-digit dingers for the season making her the 17th player in school history with 10 or more bombs in a single year.
KaraLynne Levi's next jack will put her into the 20-home run club for a career at Carson-Newman. She looks to be the 12th member of that grouping. Two home runs will tie her with Katie Pritchett and Staci Fish for the 10th most all-time (21).
Levi needs three more RBI to catch Lisa Rogers for the sixth most all-time in C-N history with 143. Levi enters these games with 140 driven in all-time.
Against Lenoir-Rhyne, Levi will become the 10th member of Carson-Newman's 200-start club in game one. The Murfreesboro, Tenn.-native has started every game of her C-N career and, barring something freak and unforeseen, will be the eighth to start 200 straight games for the Eagles. She is second behind former Eagle All-American Bri Shoemake for consecutive and career starts by a catcher. Sheomake had 210.
Follow @cnathletics on Twitter for live updates of the doubleheader.
