JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Two of the top three teams in the South Atlantic Conference standings collide at The Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Softball Complex at noon Friday when Carson-Newman (20-12, 10-2 SAC) and No. 12 Wingate (31-6, 9-1 SAC) meet for the 94th and 95th times all-time.
Carson-Newman has a 57-36 lead in the all-time series that has seen the teams square off nine times in the last two years. Wingate owns a narrow 5-4 lead in the series in that stretch.
The Bulldogs are tied with Anderson atop the SAC standings with 9-1 records. The Eagles have one more win and one more loss than both teams. The Eagles entered last year's twibill with the Bulldogs in Wingate a game back of first, but found themselves on the wrong side of a sweep.
This marks the first time Carson-Newman will welcome a top-15 foe to Mossy Creek since April 21, 2022 when 13th-ranked Anderson came to down. C-N and AU split a doubleheader that day, with C-N winning 8-1 in game one before Anderson took the night cap 1-0. The Eagles have dropped four straight decisions to ranked opposition since defeating then No. 16 Wingate 6-0 on April 29, 2023.
After starting the season 2-8, Carson-Newman has rattled off 18 wins in its last 22 games. The Eagles are hitting .347 as a team in that stretch while averaging 8.72 runs per game. The Eagles have socked 35 home runs in that stretch. Hayden Dye has been especially prolific in the last 22. She's hitting .492 with 15 extra base hits in her 32 knocks in that stretch. Dye has driven in 34 runs during this run of good form.
Macey Hughes sits in sixth place in Carson-Newman history for career home runs with 27. She sits tied with Hall of Famer Whitney, while All-American Brittany Hefner is in fifth with 28, while All-American Abby Fiessinger is two bombs away with 29. Sara Kelley (2010-14) holds the program's all-time record with 35. Hughes is also top five all-time in RBI with 159. She is two away from All-American catcher Bri Shoemake and fourth place with 161.
With 11 home runs this season, Brooke Matyasovsky and Macauley Bailey lead the South Atlantic Conference in jacks. They both rank 13th nationally. The nation's leader - Valdosta State's Abby Sulte - has 22 home runs. Matyasovsky has 21 career home runs for the Orange and Blue - the 14th player in school history with 20. She has hit 62 home runs in her collegiate career - the seventh most among active players in all divisions and the most of any player actively playing in NCAA Division II.
Bailey has clobbered 26 home runs in her career. She sits a spot away from tying Macey Hughes for sixth all-time. Bailey and Brittany Hefner are the only players in school history with more than 25 home runs in two years. This marks the first time in program history Carson-Newman has three active players with 20 career home runs (Hughes, Bailey and Matyasovsky).
First pitch between the Eagles and Bulldogs is slated for noon Friday. Coverage is available on the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live. A video stream can be viewed with a subscription to FloSports at cneagles.com/FloSB.
