Enhancing Eagles welcome Limestone to Mossy Creek
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Honoring 18 seniors on Saturday, Carson-Newman returns to South Atlantic Conference play for a three-game series against Limestone at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex starting on Friday at 2 p.m. wrapping up with a doubleheader on Saturday at noon.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 2 |
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3 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | X | 16 | 19 | 1 |
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 1 |
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0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | X | 9 | 13 | 1 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final (8) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 4 |
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1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 1 |
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Honoring 18 seniors on Saturday, Carson-Newman returns to South Atlantic Conference play for a three-game series against Limestone at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex starting on Friday at 2 p.m. wrapping up with a doubleheader on Saturday at noon.
"I don't want to make it urgent because I don't know how the mentality will be," Carson-Newman coach Tom Griffin said. "I did that with a series before and it didn't go well so I'm not even going to talk about urgency. If we talk about urgency I have a feeling we are going to end up getting some tightness. We have to play against the baseball. They know that they have to win the weekend series. You want to win two out of three every series and give yourself a chance to get into the tournament. Once you get in the tournament anything can happen because everyone starts with a clean slate. It's more about our mentality."
The Eagles have scored at least 10 runs in each of their last three games for the first time this season and the first time since April 16-22, 2019 putting up 40 in wins over Trevecca Nazarene and Coker. C-N has not had a string of four or more since 2016 when it did so against McKendree, Bluefield State and Brevard from Feb. 28 to March 5 with 55 total runs. For a five in a row sequence, you have to go back to 2010 tallying 62 from Feb. 28 to March 9.
Entering the weekend, the two clubs have faced off 44 times with Carson-Newman (19-15, 4-7) holding a 26-18 all-time lead with the Eagles winning 11 of the last 14 meetings. In 11 affairs played at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex, Limestone (4-31, 1-14) has only walked away with a win one time, a 10-8 triumph on April 10, 2018.
When the teams last squared off at Mossy Creek, it was a bonkers outing where each team launched four home runs, Carson-Newman a run in every single inning and the two sides posted multiple runs in 12 of the 17 half innings as the Eagles secured a 20-18 victory. The 20 runs was the first time since March 17, 2018, a span of 94 games and 717 days, that the team hit that mark.
In 2021, the units started the season against each other with C-N taking the final two after dropping the opener 4-3 to seal a series win for the third year in a row. The Eagles pitching staff missed bats at a high rate fanning 38 batters over 24 innings on the rubber while the offense rattled off 30 total hits.
It has been tough sledding overall this year for the Saints with the lowest winning percentage in the country of any team that has played at least 30 games. The club lost their first 10 games of the season before beating ninth-ranked Seton Hill 3-2 on Feb. 20.
Road matchups have not been friendly for the crew losing all 14 games this year and 22 in a row since beating Lincoln Memorial 9-7 on March 14, 2021. It is the third-longest drought in the nation behind Claflin's 34 and East Central's 29. At the plate, the team is hitting .190 on the road scoring 37 total runs in 14 games, 2.6 per game. On the mound, the club has a 9.47 ERA fanning only 78 batters in 108 1/3 innings.
Overall, Limestone ranks last in a dozen different categories including scoring where the team is posting 3.9 per game, the 10th-fewest in America, as the team has been held to two or fewer runs 12 times. The Saints have the second-highest team ERA with an 8.31 margin and are 11th in fielding with a .946 tally. Foes have scored double-digit runs 14 times but only thrice in the last 15.
With losses in 13 straight SAC contests, the lone win on the ledger came on Feb. 26, a 14-11 win over Mars Hill. Since that point the club has been outscored 122-29. The good news for the unit is that despite being swept by second-ranked Wingate last weekend it was only outscored 19-8 and lost by a run to Catawba two weeks in the series opener.
The pitching staff has allowed at least one home run in 12 of the last 13 games with the exception coming in the opener to the Bulldogs on March 25. Senior right-hander Cory Busse has been the team's Friday starter and despite only striking out three batters in his last two starts he has allowed seven total runs in 12 1/3 innings on 11 hits. He lasted only two innings against the Eagles last year giving up four runs.
When Limestone reaches base, the team is aggressive ranking fifth with 37 steals with 11 different players swiping at least one on the year. In the four wins, the team has only stolen a pair of bags.
Clark Burroughs leads the team offensively with seven home runs and 22 RBIs. However six of those roundtrippers came in February with only one in his last 64 at bats as he is hit .167 with a homer and three RBIs in March.
Of the 15 players with at least 20 at bats this season, only two have a batting average of .300 or greater led by Brandon Billesberger's .316 tally through 76 at bats. After missing 15 games, he has six multi-hit efforts in his last 16 posting a .323 average over that span.
All three affairs this weekend will feature audio and video streams on cneagles.com/live on the Eagle Sports Network.
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