TICKET PUNCHED! C-N makes 13th NCAA Southeast Regional
SAVANNAH, Ga. – For the 13th time in school history, Carson-Newman softball is bound for NCAA regional play.
VIDEO: NCAA Tournament Watch Party
VIDEO: Kristen Toppel Interview
VIDEO: Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Interview
The Eagles found out their fate during the NCAA's selection show Monday morning.
C-N is the two seed and headed to Savannah, Ga., to face off with seventh-seeded and No. 8 Pfeiffer Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
"This year we were a work in progress," Carson-Newman head softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "The ladies did exactly what needed to be done though. The SAC is so highly competitive, it made us tougher because we had to go to work each and every single day. This goes back to the hard work of our kids though from day one."
The other half of the sub-regional is comprised of host and third-seeded Armstrong State and sixth-seeded Young Harris.
Carson-Newman and Pfeiffer are no strangers on the softball field. The Eagles have matched wits 26 times with the Conference Carolinas school. The Eagles lead the all-time series 25-1 and have won 19 straight. The Eagles and Falcons were scheduled to meet in 2015 before rain washed out a doubleheader.
C-N swept a 2014 doubleheader from the Falcons, winning 7-2 in game one and taking a 10-2 run-rule win in the nightcap.
Carson-Newman and Pfeiffer have never squared off in postseason play. The Eagles swept Young Harris earlier this season in a pair of tight contests, which were the first in series history. Armstrong owns a 5-2 series lead on C-N. Armstrong also has 3-1 edge over C-N in NCAA postseason meetings.
The Eagles have won 11 of their last 12 and enter the tournament fresh off four straight wins that got them the SAC Conference Tournament Championship. This is Carson-Newman's first trip to Savannah for a regional. The Eagles have been to the Peach State six times for regional play (thrice to Kennesaw, Ga., twice to Columbus, Ga., and once to Milledgeville, Ga.). Otherwise, C-N has been to Hickory, N.C. twice and Pembroke, N.C. once.
Carson-Newman makes the tournament for a second time in three years. That was Kristen Toppel (Roanoke, Va.), Katie Pritchett (Ringgold, Ga.) and Erin Stanley's (Coeburn, Va.) freshman year.
"I think one of the main differences in this team (and the 2015 team) is that we fight every single time we go out on the field," shortstop Kristen Toppel said. "We've managed to be great when it's counted most. We're excited to get there, and we'll treat it like we did the conference tournament, we're there, so why not win it?"
Pritchett got a pinch-hit at-bat in the Eagles' 6-3 win over Augusta to open up that 2015 tournament. Toppel was returning from a knee injury and went 1-for-10 as the designated player with an RBI on the weekend. Stanley got a pinch-hit at-bat against Armstrong as the Pirates ousted the Eagles from their last tournament 12-6.
First pitch between the Eagles and Falcons is set for 2:30 p.m. Thursday.
