JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – No. 21 Carson-Newman (25-9, 6-6 SAC) will try to put a March malaise behind it when Wingate (24-13, 6-4 SAC) arrives at the banks of Mossy Creek for a noon first pitch Saturday.
Carson-Newman has lost four straight and is looking to avoid matching the longest losing streak in program history history. Both the 2012 and 2019 teams dropped five games consecutively. The 2019 team snapped out of it with a 3-2 win at Anderson in game two of a doubleheader. In 2012, the Eagles halted the skid with a 9-0 win over Tusculum.
After winning 11 straight, the Eagles have dropped five of their last six. They closed the month of March after spring break going 4-6.
Wingate is 5-5 over its last 10 games. The Bulldogs have split three straight twinbills. Wingate is 3-7 this season away from home.
Wingate is making its first trip to Jefferson City since 2018. The Eagles swept their last home doubleheader with the Bulldogs. C-N is 3-2 since then against Wingate, splitting two straight doubleheaders in Wingate and earning a 7-3 win in last year's SAC tournament.
Nobody has hits more dingers in the SAC than Wingate. The Bulldogs have hit the launching pad 47 times this season - the third most home runs in the country. Wingate has 15 games with multiple home runs this season. Five different Bulldogs have hit at least six home runs this season - led by Savanna Brooks and her nine bombs.
Emily Harris has cracked the 300-hit threshold for her career as NCAA Division II's active leader for hits. She needs eight more hits (she sits on 304) 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 third in hits (371) and fourth in doubles (75). Carson-Newman ranks fifth in runs (280), runs per game (8.24) and on-base percentage (.448). C-N checks in in sixth in batting average (.374), doubles per game (2.21) and triples (19). The Eagles are eighth in triples per game (0.56).
Macey Hughes is third in the country with 49 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 1.44 RBI per game, she could catch Brittany Hefner (2013) for the most RBI in a single season in SAC and school history (75).
Hughes has hit 11 home runs this season, she has the 17th double-digit home run season in school history. Her next home run will give her 12, and put her in a tie with Sara Little, Bre Lockett, Sara Kelley, Mary Shealy and Erin Rutherford for the fifth-most in a single season.
Emily Harris and Leah Sohm are two of the most prodigious hitters in the country. Harris ranks second with 55 knocks, while Sohm is fourth with 54. They are one and two in the league for most hits this season and have two of the four highest batting averages in the conference.
First pitch Saturday between the Eagles and Bulldogs is set for noon. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network is available at cneagles.com/live.
