Heavyweight battle set as #14 C-N visits #12/11 first-place Catawba
The top two teams in the South Atlantic Conference meet this weekend when #14 Carson-Newman (31-12, 18-6 SAC) visits #12/11 Catawba (30-11, 20-4 SAC) in a pivotal three-game series that begins tomorrow evening at 6:00 p.m. from Newman Park.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 1 |
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0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 1 |
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 4 | 7 | 0 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
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0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | X | 4 | 8 | 1 |
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The top two teams in the South Atlantic Conference meet this weekend when #14 Carson-Newman (31-12, 18-6 SAC) visits #12/11 Catawba (30-11, 20-4 SAC) in a pivotal three-game series that begins tomorrow evening at 6:00 p.m. from Newman Park.
Catawba owns a two-game edge in the league standings on C-N with just one more series left to play after this one for both teams. The only way Carson-Newman can pass the Indians in the standings this weekend is by sweeping the series. This weekend's series will be the third time in the past four series in which Carson-Newman will play a ranked Catawba team. The Eagles have finished as high as second on three different occasions in the Tom Griffin era, most recently in 2016.
Road games in this series have been unkind to Carson-Newman. The Eagles have lost nine of their last 11 meetings in Salisbury, North Carolina and have not won a series against the Indians in a decade. In a series with 116 meetings, Catawba holds the 70-46 advantage.
The Eagles entered this season with zero series wins over top ten opponents and are two for two this season, defeating #6 Florida Southern and just last weekend #7 Lenoir-Rhyne. Both series wins featured wins in the series opener and finale. C-N is 2-9-4 in series' all-time versus top ten clubs. This weekend, head coach Tom Griffin's team has another terrific opportunity versus a ranked foe, battling #12/11 Catawba. Under Griffin, C-N is 38-70 against ranked competition, with 25 of those wins coming in Mossy Creek.
Carson-Newman's 18 wins in South Atlantic Conference play are the second-most in program history. The most wins in conference play is 19 in 2021. It's taken a well-rounded effort for the Eagles to achieve their 18 league wins this season. In SAC play, C-N hits above .300 at the plate and averages close to seven runs per conference contest. Logan Floyd has been elite in league play this year, hitting .437 with 23 RBI.
Carson-Newman pitching has held opposing offenses to two runs or less 19 times this season. Over the past two seasons combined, C-N only did that 15 times. It's the second-most occurrences of holding an opponent to two runs or less in the Tom Griffin era. During the 2008 season, Carson-Newman baseball's winning season in DII, C-N held opponents to two runs or less 22 times throughout that season that featured a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
The reigning Southeast regional champions have picked up right where they left off from last season. Catawba is one of just eight teams in the region with 30 wins, 20 of which have been in conference play. The Indians enter this critical series playing some of their best baseball of the year. Head coach Jim Gantt has coached his team to wins in seven of their last eight games. After being run-ruled by UVA Wise in mid-March, Catawba has played with a chip on its shoulder ever since. The Indians have won 11 straight SAC games, the longest streak by any SAC team this season and the third-longest active winning streak in conference play in DII. They enter the weekend series ranked 12th in the ABCA poll and 11th in the NCBWA poll.
Pitching and defense is the name of the game for Catawba. The first-place Indians have turned the fifth-most double plays in DII this season with 41, averaging one per game. Their .982 fielding percentage is the third-best in DII. They have played error-free in nearly half of their games this season. On the pitching side, Catawba has the second-most shutouts nationally with six. It sits right behind Carson-Newman in team earned run average, posting a 4.69 mark this season. They rank second in hits allowed per nine innings and walks as well.
Cole Hales has been the best hitter for a Catawba offense that ranks second in scoring at 7.6 runs per game. His .392 batting average is the best on the team. Nine batters have at least 20 RBI this year with Dylan Driver and Hales leading the way with 35. Driver also has a team-high ten home runs with his .335 batting average this year.
The three-game series begins tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. from Newman Park. The series will air with a free audio stream available courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network on cneagles.com/live.
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