JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – A spot at the top of the South Atlantic Conference standings is on the line when Carson-Newman (25-7, 10-4 South Atlantic Conference) and No. 17 Wingate (31-8, 11-3 SAC) match up Sunday at noon from the WU Softball Complex.
The Bulldogs hold a game lead on second-place Carson-Newman atop the league leaderboards. Wingate could open up a three-game lead on the rest of the conference with a sweep of Carson-Newman, while a C-N sweep would give the Eagles a game-lead on the Bulldogs.
The matchup between Carson-Newman and Wingate puts two win streaks on the line. The Bulldogs are 16-0 at home this season. The Eagles are 6-0 on the road. Wingate's won 20 straight home games, the second-longest active home win streak in the country behind North Georgia's 24-game spurt.
The Bulldogs haven't lost at home since a 1-0 defeat to Lenoir-Rhyne in game one of a twinbill on April 20, 2022. Carson-Newman's six-game road win streak is tied for the sixth-longest active road winning streak in the nation. The Eagles haven't lost a road game since dropping the SAC title game at Lincoln Memorial, 9-7, on April 30, 2022.
Carson-Newman had a marvelous month of March. Not that February was bad at the plate (the Eagles stroked it with a .324 average), but March was an insane month offensively. The Eagles hit .392 with a .463 on-base percentage. After averaging 6.05 runs per game through 18 games in February, the Eagles put up 8.14 runs per game through 14 games in March.
Macey Hughes is the 12th player in school history with 20 career home runs. Her next bomb will place her in a tie for 10th on the all-time list with Staci Fish (2000-01) and Katie Pritchett (2015-18) and their 21 home runs. Elayna Siebert (2013-16) sits in ninth place all-time with 22 career home runs.
Freshman Macauley Bailey is the second in the country in runs batted in. The Cross Plains, Tenn.-native has 49. She has driven in a run in 12 of her last 14 games and has 13 games this year where she has driven in multiple runs. The single-season SAC and school record for RBI in a season is 75, held by Hefner (2013).
Bailey is riding a 14-game hitting streak. That's two games away from the fifth-longest hitting streak in school history. SieAnna Cameron sits tied with Shannon Smith and Kristen Toppel for the fifth-longest streak in school history at 16 games. Abby Fiessinger has the fourth longest. Fiessinger hit successfully in 18 straight games to start her career in 2017. Kelli Hensley sits in third with a 19 game hitting streak in 2014. Angel Bales (25 between 1996-97) and Sammi Hatcher (33 in 1992) sit atop the chart.
Bailey is halfway to Carson-Newman's single-season home run record. Brittany Hefner is the single-season record-holder with 19. Bailey has 10 through 32 of Carson-Newman's scheduled 48 regular season games. She ranks ninth in the nation and in the SAC behind reigning national player of the year Kayson Boatner. Bailey is the second Eagle freshman (Abby Fiessinger is the other) to homer 10 times in her first season on the banks of Mossy Creek.
First pitch between the Eagles and Bulldogs is set for noon Sunday. Follow @CN_Eagles on Twitter for live updates of the games.
