Regional play for C-N starts with #14 Belmont Abbey
May 14, 2025

Regional play for C-N starts with #14 Belmont Abbey

#26 Carson-Newman (37-17) begins NCAA Regional Tournament play tomorrow evening at 6:00 p.m. when it meets two-seeded #14 Belmont Abbey (40-15) at Abbey Yard in Belmont, North Carolina.

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JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - #26 Carson-Newman (37-17) begins NCAA Regional Tournament play tomorrow evening at 6:00 p.m. when it meets two-seeded #14 Belmont Abbey (40-15) at Abbey Yard in Belmont, North Carolina.

C-N is the seventh seed and is in a four-team double elimination bracket with its first-round opponent and the two seed Belmont Abbey. Three-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne and sixth seeded North Georgia are the other two schools on this side of the bracket. C-N's only common opponent is LR, with the two teams splitting the season series 2-2. The Eagles have 19 all-time meetings versus UNG, with the last meeting coming in 2017.

Carson-Newman and Belmont Abbey have met 41 times, with the Eagles leading the all-time series 26-15. It will be the first meeting for the two sides in the NCAA Tournament and the first time C-N plays a team against a Conference Carolinas foe in postseason play. Carson-Newman's pitching coach Jason White is a Belmont Abbey alum playing there from 2019-2022.

Carson-Newman is NCAA Tournament bound for the fifth time in program history. It's the program's first appearance since 2008 and the third under head coach Tom Griffin. The program's four other NCAA Tournament appearances came during the 1999, 2002, 2007 and 2008 seasons. C-N has a 5-9 record with wins in two of its last three NCAA Tournament games.

The Eagles have won one regional title in their four NCAA Tournament berths. That regional title came in the program's first NCAA Tournament in 1999. Car­son-Newman collected wins over St. Leo and Florida Southern to win the South regional title and advance to the DII Championship series. C-N fell to Kennesaw State and West Virginia State in its first two games of the DII World Series.

Carson-Newman's 37 wins entering the NCAA Tournament is the fourth-most wins in program history. The Eagles also produced their winningest season in South Atlantic Conference play this season, winning 21 of the 30 league games. It put together a very strong resume to earn an at-large berth, securing series wins over #6 Florida Southern and #7 Lenoir-Rhyne this season.

The Eagles pitching staff has held opposing offenses to two runs or less 22 times this season. It's tied for the most occurrences of holding an opponent to two runs or less in the Tom Griffin era. During the 2008 sea­son, Carson-Newman baseball's winningest 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.

Kolton Casson's remarkable freshman season has inked his name in C-N's record books. His 13 wins this season are the most in DII and tied for the most in a season in program history. His six complete games are fourth-most nationally and tied for the second-most in a season in program history. Casson's 2.33 earned run average is the program's second lowest by a starting pitcher in the DII era.

All-SAC first team first baseman Logan Floyd has hit safely in 24 straight games. It's the program's longest hitting streak since Jared Hubbard's 29-game streak in 2002 which is the longest in the DII era. The sophomore leads C-N in batting average (.367), hits (73), and RBI (51).

Belmont Abbey earned Conference Carolinas' automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning their tournament championship. The Crusaders did it by coming back from the loser's bracket, winning five games in three days and back-to-back against Young Harris. It's BAC's first tournament title since 2009, the same year the team made an appearance in the DII College World Series.

This is Belmont Abbey's second time in the NCAA Tournament in the past three seasons, making it back in 2023. That season, BAC won the regional hosted by Newberry and eventually bowed out to North Greenville in Super Regional play. The Crusaders have won 40 wins this season and won 21 games in CC play. They fared well at home, winning 19 of their 25 home games including their last nine.

First Team all-conference outfielder Caleb Burr highlights BAC's offense. He leads the team in many offensive categories, batting average (.356), hits (69), doubles (19), home runs (14) and RBI (60). Burr was BAC's lone position player to be named all-conference. BAC is fifth nationally with 133 doubles and scores 8.4 runs per game.

Multiple BAC arms were recognized for having quality seasons on the mound for head coach Chris Anderson's team. Spencer Cipro was a First-Team pick, firing 88.2 innings and posting a 3.15 ERA with a 10-3 record. Ethan Wilson and Thomas Paxton were second team selections. Wilson has a 3.32 ERA in 59 innings while Paxton is the top reliever, posting a 2.56 ERA with nine saves in 38.2 innings.

First pitch from Abbey Yard on Thursday afternoon is set for 6:00 p.m. All of C-N's games this weekend at the NCAA tournament will air with a free audio stream available courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network on cneagles.com/live.

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