C-N sends off Webster with Wednesday senior day festivities against Tusculum
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (36-10, 13-3 South Atlantic Conference) will pay homage to the lone senior on Team 32 when Tusculum (22-20, 8-5 SAC) invades Mossy Creek for a 2 p.m. doubleheader Wednesday.
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 2 | 6 | 0 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 1 |
|
|
0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | X | 7 | 10 | 1 |
The Eagles will honor Allison Webster (Charlestown, Ind.) with a ceremony between games one and two.
"Alli has given us a chance to win 99.9 percent of the games that she's pitched for us," head softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "She came in last year and gave us instant confidence. She's done the same thing her senior year. She has done everything that has been expected of her.
"She is a quality young lady and has been a vital part of our program over the last two years. The great thing about her is that she's an even better woman off the field. We know she will go on to be a fantastic teacher when she graduates."
Webster, a preseason All-SAC first team pitcher, has racked up 384 strikeouts in her Carson-Newman career, better than a K an inning lifetime.
A two-year player for Vickee Kazee-Hollifield, Webster has compiled a 2.24 ERA lifetime and a 36-18 record. Opponents have hit a paltry .210 off her in her career.
Her 254 strikeouts as a junior are the third highest single-season total in school history. Meanwhile, Webster broke Heather Randolph's 24-year-old single game strikeout record with a 16 strikeout effort against UVA-Wise her junior year.
Webster also has the second most strikeouts in a single game, fanning 15 Tusculum batters in a 10-inning game last season.
The Charlestown, Ind.-native has rifled a pair of no-hitters in her tenure in the Orange and Blue. She didn't allow a hit against Bluefield State earlier this season. She fired a seven-inning no-no against Anderson last year.
The Eagles will look to send Webster's home career out in style while staying in the hunt for a regular season SAC title.
Carson-Newman is tied atop the SAC standings with Lenoir-Rhyne. The Bears take on Queens on Wednesday.
Wednesday's results pending, Carson-Newman and L-R will square off Saturday with the league title likely on the line.
To get there, the Eagles will have to go through one of the best small-ball teams in the South Atlantic Conference this season. The Pioneers have dropped down 46 sacrifice bunts to rank second in the league in that regard. In last year's doubleheader with the Eagles, the Pioneers successfully laid down five sacrifice bunts.
The Eagles and TC split last year's twinbill. C-N took a marathon 7-5 decision in 3:17 in a 10-inning game, the longest game of the century for C-N. The Pioneers then powered through for a 7-2 win in the nightcap.
Carson-Newman has won four straight after a rough start to the month of April. The Eagles have been nigh impregnable at home. C-N is 23-3 at The Vick this season and has won 16 straight home games dating back to a February 22 loss to Erskine.
Meanwhile, the Pioneers have split back-to-back doubleheaders in spectacular fashion. On Friday, Taylor Johnson hit a two-run single with two outs in the bottom of the seventh as Tusculum defeated Newberry 3-2 in game two of a doubleheader. Two days earlier, Emily Hester hit a two-out, two-run walkoff home run in the bottom of the seventh as Tusculum rallied for a 4-3 win over Anderson and earn a doubleheader split.
Sammie West leads Tusculum offensively with a .397 aveage. She has cranked a whopping 17 doubles, good for third in the league.
Hester has belted seven home runs and driven in a team-high 39 runs.
First pitch between the Eagles and Pioneers is set for 2 p.m. Coverage of the contests is available on the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live.
