Eagles aim to ignite hot streak opening six-game homestand
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – With time dwindling on the 2022 season, Carson-Newman closes out the month of March with a pair of home affairs against DePauw on Tuesday at 1 p.m. and Alabama Huntsville on Wednesday at 3 p.m. with hopes of starting a winning streak during a six-game home stretch.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | R | H | E |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
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0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 15 | 1 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 15 | 1 |
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1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | X | 12 | 15 | 0 |
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – With time dwindling on the 2022 season, Carson-Newman closes out the month of March with a pair of home affairs against DePauw on Tuesday at 1 p.m. and Alabama Huntsville on Wednesday at 3 p.m. with hopes of starting a winning streak during a six-game home stretch.
The Eagles are coming off of a series where it was the hotter hitting team at the plate posting a .343 batting average cranking out 36 hits during the three-game set with Lincoln Memorial. Defensively, the club only committed one error. Because of those tallies, the Orange and Blue rank third in the South Atlantic Conference in average and are amongst the best defensive teams with a .967 fielding percentage, eight thousandths of a percent off of the pace for best in the league.
In order to take advantage of home cooking this week, Carson-Newman (17-15) will need to do something it has done twice this year, win back-to-back games, with no streak reaching three. For perspective, the team rattled off 14 in a row resetting the school record for a single-season long passing the 13-game mark set by the 2010 group.
C-N has never faced off against DePauw (6-8), a Division III club based in Greencastle, Ind. This will be the first time the team has matched up with a Division III foe since March 23, 2010 beating Maryville 8-5, one of the seven wins without a loss against the school.
Founded in 1837, the school has produced two national championships from the women's basketball program most recently in 2013. Among famous alumni, Bill and Scott Rasmussen, the co-founders of ESPN attended DePauw while Brad Stevens, the former Butler and Boston Celtics coach, played basketball for the Tigers.
Coming off of a 15-21 season a year ago, the crew has seen a bunch of schedule changes this year and was swept by Maryville over the weekend. Five of the six wins for the team have required double-digit runs and the lone exception saw a nine-run output. Due to scheduling and weather, the team has only played two games at home and won't be back until April 9.
Under sixth-year head coach Blake Allen, the lumber is firing on all cylinders with a .326 batting average while putting up just above 10 runs per game. The lineup has at least six hits and six runs in all but one game, the opener where the club mustered three runs.
Kyle Callahan guides the unit at the dish with a team-leading four home runs and 19 RBIs while hitting .357. The senior has hit safely in all but two games while cranking homers in three of his last four driving in 16 runs during the nine games in March.
On the mound, Michael Vallone has been dominant on the mound with a 1.52 ERA striking out 36 and walking six over 23 2/3 innings. Subtract him from the equation and the rest of the hurlers have tallied an ERA nearing nine.
Carson-Newman had dropped the first three meetings against Alabama-Huntsville before sweeping a three-game slate on the road over the first weekend of the season winning by a total of seven runs. The Eagles blasted the ball around the yard hitting .364 with eight extra-base hits during the weekend.
After reaching a regional last year, the team started slow in 2022 but has won three of the last four including taking two out of three against Lee to improve to 5-9 in Gulf South Conference action. With wins in just four of 15 home games, the team is sporting a 5-6 road mark.
Daniel McCary guides the offense with a team-best .337 batting average, seven long balls and 25 RBIs. He hammered C-N pitching at the beginning of the year going 6-for-11 with a homer and four driven in and has hit safely in 10 of his last 12 entering the week with four homers and 11 RBIs in that period.
Both games during the midweek will air with audio and video streams on the Eagle Sports Network by visiting cneagles.com/live for all of the coverage.
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