C-N closes eight-game road stretch at Shorter
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (16-12) wraps up its longest road stretch of the season when it heads to Rome, Georgia for a midweek matchup against Shorter (11-15) tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m.
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JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (16-12) wraps up its longest road stretch of the season when it heads to Rome, Georgia for a midweek matchup against Shorter (11-15) tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m.
During this seven game road stretch, the Eagles have gone 6-1 with the only loss coming to Tusculum this past weekend. Thanks to this stretch, Carson-Newman already has double-digit road wins for the second straight season and for the 13th time under head coach Tom Griffin.
Despite having its second six-game winning streak of the season snapped over the weekend, Carson-Newman is still playing some of its best baseball of the season here in March. Half of the team's wins this season have come this month, with still five games to play in March. The Eagles are 8-4 this month with seven of those wins coming in conference play.
Half of the Eagles' wins this season are in non-conference play. They have won eight of the ten games. C-N averages nine runs per non-conference game this season and has scored six or more runs in seven of the ten games. Tuesday's contest with Shorter will be C'N's first game against a Conference Carolinas team this spring.
Logan Floyd continues to lead Carson-Newman's offense with team-best marks in batting average at .404, doubles (12), home runs (6) and RBI (32). Even with his strong offensive numbers, several others have been contributing for C-N. Six other Eagles have drove in 10 runs or more this year and five players with at least eight starts are hitting north of .300 at the plate.
Speaking of offense, Carson-Newman's bats have added the power element to its game in the month of March. The Eagles have blasted 18 home runs this month after having just three in the first 14 games of the season. They have hit a home run in four straight contests.
After losing six of its first eight two-run games this season, the Eagles have now won four straight games decided by two-runs or less and are 6-6 this season.
Carson-Newman swept a pair of midweek contests against the Hawks last season, winning 18-2 in Rome and 6-3 in Mossy Creek. These two clubs have met every year since 2014, with C-N trailing the series 9-8.
Shorter enters this midweek meeting with an 11-15 record, but its a Hawks team that is unbeaten in non-conference games this season. They swept an opening-weekend series versus Kentucky State and have road out of league victories over Middle Georgia and Augusta. Shorter's past two midweek wins have been at home with a shutout of Augusta and an 11-run win over Morehouse.
A challenging conference slate is why Shorter's record is below .500. The Hawks are just 3-15 in CC play this season and have been swept in four of their first six conference series. Two of those sweeps have come at the hands of ranked clubs. Four of their 15 losses are by three runs or less.
Playing at home has been helpful for head coach Wes Timmons' team. Despite three straight losses, Shorter has an 8-7 home record this season.
Shorter averages eight runs per game and is led by Drake Cobb. The junior infielder is hitting a team-best .402 and has hit safely in 18 straight games, a streak that has lasted over a month. Wilmer Henriquez has been just as good, hitting .395 and posting team-highs in home runs (10) and RBI (33). The senior has posted a trio of three hit games in his last four.
Eight different arms have been started a game for a Shorter pitching staff that has a 9.18 earned run average. That mark is somewhat inflated because of allowing 18, 24, 25 and 31 runs in separate contests this season.
First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. The game can be heard on cneagles.com/live. Fans can also watch the radio crew at work with a feed of press row on YouTube.
