C-N lights the candle on 2022 with Milligan
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – For the first time in 28 years, Carson-Newman opens a season at home starting on Tuesday at 2 p.m. when Milligan comes to the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex for an opening day clash between the Eagles and the Buffaloes.
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JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – For the first time in 28 years, Carson-Newman opens a season at home starting on Tuesday at 2 p.m. when Milligan comes to the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex for an opening day clash between the Eagles and the Buffaloes.
The Eagles had started the season with a road game in 27 straight campaigns going 13-19 on opening day with wins two years in a row before a 4-3 loss to Limestone in 2021. The last time the club hosted a home game to lift the lid on a season was Feb. 27, 1992 when the unit beat East Tennessee State 16-9 igniting a run to the South Atlantic Conference Tournament title beating Elon and Catawba in back-to-back games to hoist the trophy.
Despite falling in the NAIA District Tournament to Mount Olive and Catawba by a combined three runs, Mike Brady, the SAC and Region Player of the Year, and Todd Henderson were named All-Americans during the second year of a string of titles where the program won two regular-season championships and two tournament titles advancing to the NAIA World Series in 1993.
Coach Tom Griffin's team has produced six straight winning seasons, its longest such streak since registering a string of that length came over a nine-year period from 2002 to 2010. During this period, the Eagles are 186-132, good for a .584 winning percentage, with a pair of 31-win campaigns.
The Eagles are as experienced as any team in the country with 13 seniors on the roster as the position players have combined for 592 starts in a C-N uniform and the pitching staff has thrown 525 1/3 innings on the Mossy Creek mound.
Carson-Newman and Milligan have faced off 29 times with the Eagles holding a 29-9-1 edge including a 4-0 mark under Griffin. The Eagles have won each of the last six meetings since an 11-7 defeat on April 5, 2005. Feb. 28, 2008 was the last meeting with the Orange and Blue prevailing 14-5 behind Nick Achberger going 2-for-3 with four RBIs and four runs scored.
The longest game in program history and SAC history is between the two programs as C-N needed 16 innings to take down Milligan 5-4 on March 3, 2004. The Buffaloes had a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the eight before C-N scored three times to knot the tally. Gavin Scroggins tossed six shutout innings of relief Jonathan Mary doubled home Charlie Munroe to win the contest.
Skyler Barnett, the head coach of Milligan, was Griffin's assistant for three seasons at Carson-Newman from 2015-17 helping the team to an 85-66 record highlighted by the 2017 campaign that saw the Eagles get hot in the SAC Tournament winning four of five including a 13-8 elimination game win over 15th-ranked Catawba to reach Championship Monday before falling to Lincoln Memorial 9-4.
After four consecutive losing seasons, Barnett has produced back-to-back years above .500 going 41-31 and 19-13 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference. Last season the club registered four wins over top 20 teams including a 2-1, extra-innings win over No. 1 Tennessee Wesleyan on April 3.
Brandon Marello does it all for the club ranking 10th nationally with a 2.04 ERA in 66 1/3 innings pitched fanning 62 batters. As an infielder, he hit .324 with three home runs and 21 RBIs. He was the catalyst for the win over Tennessee Wesleyan allowing one run over seven innings, tallying three hits and scoring the game-winning run.
Outfielder Anthony Guzman was the team's top hitter a year ago with a .351 batting average, seven homers, 39 RBIs and 39 runs scored. He ranked in the top 10 of the league in hits and batting average while collecting hitting streaks of 14 and 16 games a year ago.
Tuesday's game can be seen and heard with video and audio streams available thanks to the Eagle Sports Network by visiting cneagles.com/live for all of the action from the banks of Mossy Creek.
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