Eagles look to regain momentum in Wednesday afternoon tilt with Bulldogs
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After storming through the non-conference slate, No. 24 Carson-Newman (21-6, 2-2) has struggled to regain form since entering March. The Eagles are 4-4 in the current month and have split both of their opening doubleheaders in South Atlantic Conference play. Now, they gear up to face Wingate (15-9, 2-2) on Wednesday.
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
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4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 15 | 0 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 1 |
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0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
VIDEO: In The Booth vs Wingate (Game 1)
VIDEO: In The Booth vs Wingate (Game 2)
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After storming through the non-conference slate, No. 24 Carson-Newman (21-6, 2-2) has struggled to regain form since entering March. The Eagles are 4-4 in the current month and have split both of their opening doubleheaders in South Atlantic Conference play. Now, they gear up to face Wingate (15-9, 2-2) on Wednesday.
The biggest issue for Michael Graves' team is having a consistent level of intensity in both contests. In each of the first two SAC doubleheaders against UVA Wise and Lincoln Memorial, the opposition has taken game one before the Eagles respond resoundingly in the second game, outscoring opponents 19-4.
"I liked the way we played, and that's the way we should play, but we didn't do that in game one and didn't do that in game one when we got beat the other day," Graves said. "We've got to figure out how to come out and start the day like that and keep it going for two games straight."
This midweek matchup brings C-N's most common opponent to town. These meetings with the Bulldogs will be the 99th and 100th all-time; the Eagles are 57-41 in the series. However, in recent history, it's been all Wingate winning the last six contests. The Bulldogs won the last meeting 3-2 in the opening contest of SAC Championship weekend.
Senior Macauley Bailey (Cross Plains, Tenn.) continues to close in on the all-time RBI record in South Atlantic Conference history. After a pair of RBIs at Lincoln Memorial, she currently sits third all-time with 231 and most recently passed Cailah Niles' (Anderson 2015-18) 226 mark against UVA Wise on March 10th.
Now she only trails Haley Simonds (Newberry 2017-21), 233, for second and Kayson Boatner's (Anderson 2019-23) current record of 239 for the most.
Bailey leads the conference with a .472 batting average and 41 RBIs; she has also added three home runs this season.
Freshman Malyiah Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.) sits just behind Bailey at third in the SAC with a .458 batting average and leads the conference with 17 stolen bases. The Knoxville native has been the leadoff hitter in every game this season and is the everyday shortstop.
Abbi Martin (Gadsden, Ala.) is second in the conference with 12 stolen bases and is enjoying a career-best season in her final campaign. The senior is third on the team with a .432 batting average, and her 24 RBIs through 26 games ties her best mark in a year, when she had 24 in 49 contests.
Wingate comes into Wednesday with a 15-9 record, and like C-N, it is 2-2 to start conference play with splits against Anderson and Emory & Henry. Sydney Lahners is in her second season at the helm of a team that was picked to finish second in the SAC preseason poll and lost to Francis Marion in the regional final last season.
The Bulldogs already have a pair of ranked wins this season. Splitting doubleheaders against No. 6 Francis Marion on February 28 and No. 19 Shippensburg on March 1.
Lily Huneycutt leads the charge for a three-headed monster in the circle. The junior has allowed just two runs in her last 18.2 innings on nine hits with 14 strikeouts. On the season, she is 9-3, holding a 2.38 ERA with six complete games and has 57 strikeouts in 67.2 innings.
Jillian Thomas and Lily Robbins complete the trio. Thomas is 3-2 with a 2.75 ERA in 11 appearances, notching 41 strikeouts in 43.1 innings. Meanwhile, Robbins sits at 3-3 with a 3.84 ERA, notching 31 strikeouts across 27.1 innings of work.
First baseman Kendra Murray has been a star in the lineup in her first year at Wingate. The freshman paces the team with a .412 batting average, a .522 on-base percentage and a .824 slugging percentage. Murray has six home runs and 23 RBIs; Riley Griffin is next closest on the team with 10 RBIs. Meanwhile, preseason All-SAC selection Kaylee Hobgood is batting .364 with a home run and nine runs batted in.
Carson-Newman will be back at home on March 18th against Wingate. First pitch is slated for 1:00 p.m. against the Bulldogs from the Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Softball Complex. Both games can be seen on FloSports, heard on cneagles.com/live, or watched as the radio crew operates in the booth on the Carson-Newman Eagle Sports Network YouTube channel.
