Tennessee clash on tap as Eagles head to Tusculum
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman (14-11, 6-9 SAC) carries a five-game winning streak into a South Atlantic Conference series against Tusculum (9-16, 4-11 SAC) this weekend at Pioneer Park starting Friday night at 6:00 p.m.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 1 |
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0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 1 |
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 2 |
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0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | X | 9 | 9 | 5 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
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0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 0 |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman (14-11, 6-9 SAC) carries a five-game winning streak into a South Atlantic Conference series against Tusculum (9-16, 4-11 SAC) this weekend at Pioneer Park starting Friday night at 6:00 p.m.
Carson-Newman is on its second-longest winning streak of the season, having won five straight games after going 4-0 this past week. During this winning streak, C-N has outscored its opponents 43-14. After losing its six of its first eight two-run games or less this season, the Eagles have now won three straight games decided by two-runs or less and are 5-6 this season.
The Eagles have started to find their groove in conference play. They have won four straight league games and have held five of its last six league foes to five runs or less. Offensively, nine different hitters with multiple starts are hitting at least .300 in conference games. Five of C-N's six SAC wins this season have come on the road.
Because of having Tuesday's home midweek game against Alabama Huntsville cancelled, C-N does not have another scheduled home game until next weekend. After playing four road games last week, it is scheduled to now play its next four games on the road as well. The Eagles are 8-5 on the road this season.
Over his collegiate career, Logan Floyd (Adairsville, Ga.) has proved he as one of the best hitters in the conference and in the region. After a trio of multi-hit days this past week, Floyd now has 54 career games with at least two hits, 14 of which have come this season. The junior infielder is fourth in the SAC in batting average, hitting .418 this season. His 30 RBI are tied for third-most in the league this season.
Carson-Newman's starting rotation is coming off another elite pitching performances in this past weekend's series at Emory & Henry. The trio of Kolton Casson (Benton, Tenn.), Ryan Higgins (Spotsylvania, Va.) and Christian Henderson (Clarksville, Tenn.) did not allow an earned run in 20 innings pitched against E&H. Over the last six games this trio has started, C-N has allowed just two runs in the first five innings of the games. Including freshman Drew Fletcher's (Waxhaw, N.C.) midweek starts, the Eagles' starters have just a 3.66 earned run average this season.
This weekend's series will be Carson-Newman's first conference series at Pioneer Park since 2022. The Eagles and Pioneers have not played a conference series in two of the past three seasons. C-N leads the all-time series 60-55 and has not lost a series in Greeneville in over a decade. The two clubs played a midweek game on February 10th, with C-N run-ruling TU 15-3 in seven innings.
Tusculum has been a very streaky team in 2026. The Pioneers have multiple four-game winning streaks but they also have multiple five-game or worse losing streaks. Their current streak is a five-game skid that includes a pair of one-run losses. This losing stretch in February started with a one-run loss to King on Feb 10th. #11 Trevecca Nazarene continued TU's losing streak by walking the Pioneers off 9-8 in 10 innings on Wednesday.
The Pioneers are 9-17 overall this season and 4-11 in South Atlantic Conference play. Six of TU's nine wins are at Pioneer Park this season. However, just one of those home wins has come in league action. Head coach Brandon Steele's team has lost five of its last seven home games.
Tusculum ranks top five in the SAC in just two categories, second in hit by pitches (47), and fifth in sac bunts with 15. Sophomore Landon Dockery has their best hitter this season. He leads the team with 30 hits and a .405 batting average. He has two of TU's six home runs in 2026. Dockery has hit safely in 10 of his past 11 games. Jake Absher and Kolby Watson lead the Pioneers with 15 RBI each, but they have help. Including those two, seven players have double-digit RBI for an offense that averages 5.6 runs per game.
Tusculum's pitching staff has a team earned run average at 7.00 this season, fourth-worst in the league. The defense has not helped their pitchers much this season. TU has a .955 fielding percentage, the worst in the league. They have committed an error in 21 of its 26 games this year.
TU's three pitchers with at least five starts this season have an average earned run average of 7.05.
First pitch for the series opener is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. The game can be heard on cneagles.com/live. Fans can also watch the radio crew at work with a feed of press row on YouTube.
