Regular season SAC title on the line when Eagles, No. 16 Bears collide in Hickory
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (38-10, 15-3 South Atlantic Conference) and No. 16 Lenoir-Rhyne (43-8, 15-3 South Atlantic Conference) match wits Saturday at Bears Field at 2 p.m. with the South Atlantic Conference Regular Season title on the line.
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 1 |
|
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0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | X | 8 | 8 | 1 |
VIDEO: Vickee Hollifield Interview
The Eagles have won 14 regular season SAC titles, the Bears have laid claim to 10. Together, the teams account for 89 percent of the regular season titles presented by the league in its 28-year history of sponsoring softball as a sport.
Should the teams split the doubleheader, they would share the SAC title, which they have done twice before (2000 and 2008). A sweep would give ether side the SAC title outright. Should the Eagles and Bears split the doubleheader, Carson-Newman would be the one seed for the upcoming SAC Softball Championships presuming that Newberry at least splits with Lincoln Memorial. The Eagles swept the third-place Wolves while the Bears split with them.
"We're thrilled to be in this position," head softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "It's been a lot of fun and a lot of hard work. We've had to grind and battle through a lot of tough games against some challenging conference opponents."
The contest pits the two longest active win streaks in the Southeast Region against one another. The Bears haven't been beaten since March 29 when Newberry won game one of a doubleheader 6-5 on a walk-off wild pitch. That was 13 games ago. The Eagles have won six consecutive, tied with the Peach Belt's North Georgia for the second longest active win streak in the region. The Eagles have won a trio of one-run games to extend the win streak to six.
The matchup features the top offense (Lenoir-Rhyne) versus the top defense (CarsonNewman). The Bears have scored at least six runs in 11 of their 18 SAC games. On the flip side, Carson-Newman has only allowed three SAC foes to score four or more runs.
Lenoir-Rhyne leads the league in just about every offensive statistical category. The only ones where the Bears aren't atop the ledger are home runs (second), fewest strikeouts (second) and walks (fourth).
The same is true for the Eagles in terms of pitching. The Eagles have given up the fewest hits, runs and earn runs while piling up the most strikeouts, most strikeouts per seven innings and the fewest walks. The only category Carson-Newman doesn't lead the league in is fewest home runs allowed, which belongs to Lenoir-Rhyne.
While the Bears are known for their offense and the Eagles for their defense, both sides are pretty good at the flip side of the coin. Carson-Newman has scored the second most runs in league play while Lenoir-Rhyne has allowed the third fewest runs in conference action.
Carson-Newman's production has come from all over the place offensively. Eight of Carson-Newman's regular starters have driven in at least 20 runs. Taylor Scott (Huntington, W.Va.) leads the team with 38 driven in. C-N has five different players who have driven in at least 30 runs.
"Our freshman have made an immediate impact and done it all season long," Kazee-Hollifield said. "But we also wouldn't be there without leadership from our upperclassmen. We've been able to produce one-through-nine in the lineup. Every victory is truly a team victory."
Carson-Newman and Lenoir-Rhyne are the only teams in the conference that can claim five players with 30 or more runs batted in. Sydney Landreth leads the Bears with 52. She is also one of three Bears hitting north of .400.
Erin Boone leads the league with a .480 average, which is on pace for the sixth best season in SAC history. Sarah Kenley is hitting .456 and is second in the league.
First pitch between the Eagles and the Bears is set for 2 p.m. from Bears Field. Coverage of the games will be available on the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live.
