JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (2-6) will try to shake off some early season offensive doldrums with its first games in 10 days when it travels to the Tennessee state line to take on King (3-3) Sunday at 1 p.m.
Carson-Newman visits King for the first time since the 2020 season. The Eagles were playing at the Tornado on March 12, the day that the remainder of Carson-Newman and most everyone else's spring sports schedules were cancelled due to the CoVID-19 pandemic. Carson-Newman's 4-2 win and 3-0 loss against the Tornado were the last athletic contests for the Eagles before the remainder of sports were cancelled for the spring of 2020.
Carson-Newman and King have split their season series every year since 2018. C-N is 6-4 against the Tornado in the last 10 meetings. The Eagles haven't swept a twinbill from the Tornado since Feb. 11, 2017. Carson-Newman won 19 of the first 20 meetings in the series, which started in 1993.
The Tornado has made back-to-back Southeast Regional appearances. King was picked to finish second in the Conference Carolinas preseason poll with five first-place votes. The Tornado is situated behind Francis Marion in the poll, the Patriots ousted the Eagles from last year's NCAA Southeast Regional.
The contest features two of the top players in the country from 2023 in C-N's Bailey and King's Jessica Campbell. Bailey led the nation last year in RBI per game, while Campbell ranked second nationally in batting average at .480.
Macey Hughes enters her senior season poised to make some inroads into the Carson-Newman softball record books. Macey Hughes sits in eighth place in Carson-Newman history for career home runs with 24, she is tied with Mandy Stevens. Next up on the all-time list is Lisa Rogers, who had 26 from 2003-06. Sara Kelley (2010-14) holds the program's all-time record with 35. Hughes is also top 10 all-time in RBI with 138. She sits in eighth in a tie with Mary Shealey (2009-12).
Macauley Bailey has homered in three straight games. She represents the sixth time an Eagle has homered in three straight contests in the last decade. Bailey is the only one to do it twice. She sits on 18 career home runs, two away from becoming the 13th player in school history to hit 20 career home runs.
Follow @CN_Eagles on Twitter for live updates of the twinbill Sunday.
