April 12, 2013

Eagles celebrate senior day, try to secure SAC tourney bid

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (17-22, 12-12 South Atlantic Conference) will honor six seniors Friday when it begins its final SAC series with Anderson (15-30, 7-17 SAC) Friday at 3 p.m. at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.

Anderson (S.C.)

15-32

Carson-Newman

18-22

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Anderson (S.C.)	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	2	5	1
Carson-Newman	2	0	1	3	0	0	0	0	X	6	11	0

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (17-22, 12-12 South Atlantic Conference) will honor six seniors Friday when it begins its final SAC series with Anderson (15-30, 7-17 SAC) Friday at 3 p.m. at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex.

Alex Britt (Salisbury, N.C.), Kevin Franchetti (Highland, Ind.), Ryan Fillers (Greeneville, Tenn.), Zach Long (Jefferson City, Tenn.), Chris Armstrong (Blaine, Tenn.) and Evan Faithfull (Hingham, Miss.) will take to the SDBC grass for the final time in a SAC series.

"Seniors all hold a special place in my heart because of the rules and discipline that they follow as well as the time and effort they put in for us and for Carson-Newman," Carson-Newman head coach Tom Griffin said. "It says so much about them and how high their character is. It's emotional, but that emotion is for happiness."

Britt: Britt has struck out 109 batters over the course of his two seasons playing for C-N. Lifetime he's thrown more than 110 innings and has garnered a career record of 7-6.

Franchetti: Franchetti transferred to Mossy Creek for his senior year after starting 60 games for the Cardinals. In his only season in the Orange and Blue, Franchetti has led Carson-Newman in home runs with seven. He has started all but one game behind the dish for the Eagles and has thrown out 12 batters trying to steal on him this season.

Fillers: A four-year pitcher for the Eagles, Fillers has appeared in 83 games over the course of his career. He has collected 15 saves for his career and won 12 games primarily in relief. Fillers will finish his collegiate career with an ERA below below 4.50.

Long: Long has started 120 games in his Carson-Newman career. A four-year player, Long has started games in every year of his career. He has only missed one start as a junior and senior. Long has more doubles than any other player on the roster over the last two seasons with 22 and is adept at wearing pitches. He was plunked a school record 13 times his junior year, he's dropped that down to seven for his senior year.

Armstrong: A two-year starter for the Carson-Newman pitching staff, Armstrong has started 22 games in his career. The Blaine, Tenn.-native has won 10 of them. A strikeout king, he's fanned 130 for his career. In his senior year, he rests second in the league with 71 Ks.

Faithfull: A member of the 2012 all-tournament team, Faithfull has appeared in 44 games over the course of his Eagle career. Faithfull has carried a 2.5:1 strike to walk ratio through his career. In his junior year, he was above a four to one ratio with 26 Ks and six base on balls.

The Eagles need to win one game of the series to ensure themselves a spot in the tournament. A sweep and the right combination of losses could move Carson-Newman up to a three seed.

"We want to take it one game at a time," Carson-Newman head coach Tom Griffin said. "But I'd be lying if I said that we could completely pay attention to that. Because of what we went through in March, we are very aware of what we have to do to get into the tournament."

First pitch Friday is slated for 3 p.m. Coverage is available on the Coca-Cola Eagle Sports Network online at cneagles.com/live.

-CN-