JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (2-8) gets an earlier than expected home opening contest thanks to a newly scheduled doubleheader against Concord (5-1) with a 1 p.m. first pitch Sunday afternoon at The Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Softball Complex.
Carson-Newman is 19-1 in home openers after collecting a 7-1 win over Concord last season. King spoiled 18 straight home opening wins in 2021 with an 8-2 win over the Eagles.
Carson-Newman has won four straight in its series with Concord. Carson-Newman is 7-3 all-time at home against the Mountain Lions. The Eagles have outscored the Lions 30-9 on their four-game winning streak in the series. The Lions have scored no more than one run in three straight games after the Eagles out-slugged Concord 10-6 in a neutral site game in 2022.
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 sits on 18 career home runs, two away from becoming the 13th player in school history to hit 20 career home runs.
The Eagles have struggled with situational hitting to start the season. C-N is hitting .233 with runners on base and just .209 with runners in scoring position. Comparitively, Carson-Newman's foes are batting .382 with runners and .361 with runners in scoring position. Conversely, Carson-Newman hit .352 with runners and .344 with runners in scoring position on its way to an NCAA Southeast Regional appearance last season.
Concord is 3-1 against the South Atlantic Conference this season. The Mountain Lions swept a doubleheader from UVA Wise and split a twinbill with Tusculum.
Concord pitcher Nancy-Jo Roberts is the reigning MEC Pitcher of the Week. She fanned a career-high nine batters in game two of a doubleheader against Virginia Union. Across five innings of work, Roberts only allowed three hits and walked two batters. She struck out multiple hitters in four out of her five innings thrown in the 11-0 victory.
With a challenging early schedule, Carson-Newman has played the second-toughest schedule amongst schools in the South Atlantic Conference.
First pitch between the Eagles and Mountain Lions is set for 1 p.m. Sunday. Coverage is available on the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live. A video stream can be found with a subscription to FloSports at cneagles.com/FloSB.
