March 19, 2013

Eagles look to stop streak against North Georgia

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (13-13, 9-6 South Atlantic Conference) will seek to snap a six-game skid when North Georgia (7-15, 3-6 Peach Belt) rolls into the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex for a two-game set.

North Georgia

8-15

Carson-Newman

13-14

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
North Georgia	5	3	0	0	0	3	1	2	0	14	20	1
Carson-Newman	1	2	0	4	1	1	1	0	0	10	13	6

North Georgia

9-15

Carson-Newman

13-15

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
North Georgia	1	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	5	8	1
Carson-Newman	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	11	3

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (13-13, 9-6 South Atlantic Conference) will seek to snap a six-game skid when North Georgia (7-15, 3-6 Peach Belt) rolls into the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex for a two-game set.

First pitch Tuesday is set for 2 p.m.; game two Wednesday begins at 1 p.m.

The Eagles have been in every game on the six-game slide. C-N has combined to lose the contests by 11 runs.

"We have to get back on track offensively and execute," C-N head baseball coach Tom Griffin said. "When hitting goes like this it's a mental issue. We have to gain confidence. We have to get a run on the board and build on it."

Carson-Newman is averaging five hits a game over the streak. When the Eagles won seven of eight games two weeks ago, that number was 9.75 hits a game.

The issue for the Eagles has been getting the base runner in the first place. When the runners are on, C-N has had success advancing them. The Eagles move runners nearly 50 percent of the time and are .543 with a runner on third and less than two out.

"It's about bringing energy to the park and then playing like we're playing like there's something with meaning," Griffin said. "Our guys brought great energy in practice today. We've got to get on a roll somehow."

The series with the Saints is a bit of an oddity – it's the only two-game, two-day series C-N is scheduled to play all season. But Griffin said that comes with the turf when dealing with quality coaches.

"We've done this two-game set for three or four years,' Griffin said. "Their coaches (Tom Cantrell and Mike Holder) and I think so much alike about the game of baseball. We're so similar that we enjoy this little set. But if they're struggling right now, it won't be long till they're rolling."

The Saints have lost three straight after getting swept by Flagler. The Saints scored at least eight runs in every game against NGU.

Jake McCurrie and Tremayne Toorie are the lone NGU regulars who are batting better than .300 for the season.

Coverage for the two-game series begins 15 minutes prior to first pitch on the Coca-Cola Eagle Sports Network on cneagles.com with the Farm Bureau Countdown to First Pitch.

-CN-