JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – No. 18 Carson-Newman (22-4, 3-1 South Atlantic Conference) will tackle two SAC foes at two venues Friday and Saturday.
The Eagles play host to Queens Friday at 1 p.m. at the Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Softball Complex before hitting the road Saturday to tangle with Catawba in Salisbury at Whitley Field.
Emily Harris is closing in on the 300-hit threshold for her career. The fifth-year player sits on 293 knocks for her career - a figure that ranks first among all active player in NCAA Division II. She needs 20 more hits to start moving up the top 25 list for career hits in NCAA Division II history.
Carson-Newman ranks in the top 10 nationally in 10 offensive categories. The Eagles are second in the nation in doubles (60), runs scored (216) and hits (282). The Eagles rank fourth in scoring (8.31 runs per game) and fifth in triples (15), slugging (.575) and on-base percentage (.447). Thge Eagles check in in sixth in batting average (.373) and doubles per game (2.31), while ranking ninth in stolen bases (67).
Macey Hughes leads the country with 40 RBI this season. Hughes has four games this year with at least four RBI and three with five or more. If Hughes maintains her average of 1.53 RBI per game, she could catch Brittany Hefner (2013) for the most RBI in a single season in SAC and school history (75).
Emily Harris and Leah Sohm are both in the top 10 nationally in hits. Harris has 44 this season to rank third in the nation. Sohm sits on 41 knocks and ranks sixth. • Queens has slugged 27 home runs this season, ranking 14th in the country. Haley Nelson, Jordan Hunt and Kayla Smith all have six for the Royals. Kayla Smith hit a three-run walk-off home run to hand Lenoir-Rhyne its first SAC loss on Tuesday.
These will be Queens first games at Carson-Newman since 2018. The Eagles have swept back-to-back doubleheaders at the Tuckaseegee Dream Fields in Charlotte.
Prior to Carson-Newman's 7-4 win over Catawba in game two of a doubleheader last year with the Indians, Catawba had taken four straight from the Eagles. While Carson-Newman has a 53-20 edge in the series, Catawba has a 10-7 edge over the last nine years. Carson-Newman hasn't swept the Indians in Salisbury since 2010. The Ealges are 1-7 in their last four regular season trips to play Catawba.
First pitch with Queens Friday is set for 1 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network is set for a webcast at cneagles.com/live. Follow @CN_Eagles on Twitter for live updates of the Eagles' Saturday game at Catawba.
