December 22, 2024

C-N Ready to Face Challenging 2025 Schedule

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman faces another challenging slate in 2025, facing off with five NCAA tournament teams from a year ago, with three coming from the South Atlantic Conference.

Coming off a solid 2024 season in which the Eagles finished third in the South Atlantic Conference with 32 wins, C-N hopes to build on the success of the 2024 campaign and make a push for the postseason in 2025 with a challenging schedule.

"We wanted to get a tougher schedule as far as strength," head coach Michael Graves said. "We thought we had a pretty good schedule last year, but we didn't get some help from teams that had won in the past… With no luck of ours, we got dinged for strength of schedule. We tried to work on it the best we could this year."

C-N starts out the season at home, playing the first six games of the season in Mossy Creek. The Eagles did not play at home until February 25^th in the 2024 season.

The Eagles will square off with Concord and Kentucky State in the first weekend before welcoming Lee to Mossy Creek on February 5^th. C-N had a combined 4-0 record against Concord and Kentucky State in 2024, while Lee is new to the 2025 schedule.

Carson-Newman hits the road for the first time on February 8^th, traveling to Johnson City, Tenn. For the Southeast Region Challenge. The Lady Eagles will take on Converse, Lees-McRae, King, and Barton during the two-day event.

The biggest challenge early in the season comes on February 12^th, when C-N will face off against North Georgia in Jefferson City. UNG tallied a 52-13 record in 2024, falling to Lenoir-Rhyne in the NCAA DII Southeast Super Regional.

"It's better competition," Graves said. "North Georgia is always a perennial power, they normally always go to the College World Series. They're good, and we know they're good."

After a short trip home, C-N heads back on the road where it will see USC Aiken, Lander, Young Harris, and King at the Lander Bearcat Invitational on February 14^th and 15^th. This presents another opportunity for C-N, featuring a Bearcat squad who made the Southeast Regional in 2024.

The Eagles return home to The Vick for a six-game homestand against Ohio Dominican, North Greenville, and Davis & Elkins. The three non-conference opponents are all new to the 2025 schedule, and Ohio Dominican provides C-N with another opportunity to bolster its strength of schedule.

"We've played Ohio Dominican before and it's always a slugfest," Graves said. "It'll help us a lot."

C-N hits the road for the next two non-conference series at Columbus State and at Shorter to wrap up February before a home doubleheader against Southern Wesleyan to close out non-conference play. The matchup with Southern Wesleyan will mark the third non-conference opponent in the state of Tennessee.

The Eagles then prepare for South Atlantic Conference play, a conference that was top-heavy in 2024, with the top five teams finishing above .500 and the other eight finishing with a sub-.500 mark.

"Hopefully the conference gets back to where it has been traditionally," Graves said. "Even though the bottom part of our conference had a losing record, it's not normally like that. We know how good the bottom part of our conference traditionally has been… Our conference schedule traditionally helps us with strength of schedule and we don't need a lot of outside help. Hopefully we can get back to that."

C-N kicks off South Atlantic Conference play at home on March 4^th against Newberry before a matchup with Lincoln Memorial on March 8^th. Then, C-N starts arguably its toughest stretch of the season, squaring off with Wingate and Anderson on the road the following week.

The Bulldogs and the Trojans finished first and second respectively in the SAC in 2024. Both Wingate and Anderson made the Southeast Regional in 2024.

"Hopefully we're hot coming into it and we're on a roll," Graves said. "It's good that we get to play them back-to-back and not separate them to where we've got four games to really help ourselves."

C-N's next big challenge in the conference slate comes at the end of the season on April 19^th, where it will have its final chance to solidify its strength of schedule against Lenoir-Rhyne. The Bears turned in an outstanding season in 2024, making it to the NCAA DII Championship series.

"Those two games have the chance to help us out a lot," Graves said. "I'm sure we will be going up against a nationally ranked program and it's one of those that could help us out, and hopefully doesn't ding us too bad if it doesn't go our way."

Although it is a challenging schedule for the Eagles, Graves believes his team has the firepower to stay competitive throughout the 2025 season.

"The offense is looking really good," Graves said. "In the fall, they pounded the ball… We hit the ball well off of some really good teams. Pitching was better than we probably anticipated with a lot of new faces… I think pitching is much improved."

The Eagles kick off the 2025 season at home against Concord, Kentucky State, and Lee in the first week of February.

For updates throughout the Carson-Newman softball season, visit cneagles.com and follow us on social media @cn_eagles.