No. 22 C-N readies for top-25 showdown at No. 6 Lee
CLEVELAND, Tenn. – In a rare midweek outing in 2021, No. 25 Carson-Newman looks to keep the winning streak rolling making the short journey southwest to challenge scorching hot and seventh-ranked Lee Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Olympic Field.
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CLEVELAND, Tenn. – In a rare midweek outing in 2021, No. 22 Carson-Newman looks to keep the winning streak rolling making the short journey southwest to challenge scorching hot and sixth-ranked Lee Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Olympic Field.
"We need to do what we have been doing – worry about ourselves, be the best version of you, one pitch at a time, competing against the baseball," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "If you can simplify that, you can't control what they do or umpires. All you can do is control yourself. Make sure you have your mind in the right spot. Serve each other and play with passion and energy. That is what we have been doing since day one in our program. That's what we are about and what we want them to do."
With two wins at seventh-ranked Catawba under its belt, Carson-Newman (15-4) has its most wins over top 25 competition since beating four ranked units in 2018. The last time the club had multiple wins over a pair of top 10 clubs came in 2013. (Due to a difficulty locating ranking history, there are no instances with more than three wins over top 10 programs).
The Eagles have reeled off eight straight wins and are looking to make it nine a row for the first time since April 6-22, 2019 when the club rattled off nine straight to wrap up the regular season. In that span, the Orange and Blue are outscoring their foes by a 67-18 margin having not allowed more than seven hits in any of the games.
Tuesday is the 23rd meeting with Lee (17-2) and the first time that C-N enters as a top 25 unit. The Flames have been ranked three times winning the most recent one on April 6, 2005, a 6-5 victory on their home field. C-N knocked off a 13th-ranked Lee team twice in 2003 winning 8-6 on the road and 13-6 at home.
Carson-Newman holds a 12-10 edge in the all-time series and will look to extend their winning streak to three to match the longest winning streak in series as each team has won three straight twice each.
Matt Parkinson hit two home runs and the Eagles scored nine runs and produced 10 hits with two outs in a 12-6 win in the first meeting this year coming at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex on Feb. 17. C-N went 10-for-18 with two outs in the game. It is one of two times this year the Flames have given up double-digit runs.
MOVING ��@CNBaseball is up to No. 22 in the latest @CBNewspaper poll. pic.twitter.com/FwlUqhWXgw
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) March 22, 2021
Dating back to the end of 2020, Lee has won 21 of its last 23 games posting a 15-0 record at home so far in 2021. The team has won 17 consecutive home games, the second-longest mark in the country behind Lindenwood's 21. Lewis was the last team to win at Larry Carpenter Stadium winning 9-3 on Feb. 22, 2020.
Outside of the loss to the Eagles, the only other time coach Mark Brew's program has lost a game this year came in a 16-13 setback to Auburn Montgomery when Lee allowed an eight-run sixth inning on Feb. 28. Since then the team has won six straight. It has won eight one-run games and 13 of the team's 17 victories have been decided by three or fewer.
Pitching has keyed the success with a team earned run average of 3.30 as opponents are hitting .212. Foes have fanned 203 times and drawn 73 walks in 169 innings. Teams have scored five or fewer runs in 14 of the 19 games this year as the pitching staff has racked up four shutouts. The flamethrowers have struck out double digits 14 times including an 18-strikeout performance in 1-0 shutout of Montevallo on Friday.
Defense has helped the team's pitching staff as the club has posted a .971 team fielding percentage with one or fewer errors in 13 outings. The percentage ranks in the top 40 of the country.
At the plate, the team has a batting average of .283 to rank fifth in the Gulf South where the team has opened up a four-game lead in the conference standings. While the team has registered 10-plus runs five times, it has been limited to six runs or less on 11 occasions.
Alan Smith has been the table setter posting a .414 batting average behind a seven-game hitting streak. Ryan Beamish and Landon Silver have combined for 13 home runs and 51 RBIs.
Lee will produce the video and stats for the contest. You can tune in by clicking the hyperlinks or by following @CNathletics on Twitter for the latest news and notes.
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