C-N softball starts spring break with road trip to Wingate
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (17-9, 2-2 South Atlantic Conference) will try to keep its bats toasty when it travels to Wingate (15-12-1, 1-3 SAC) Saturday afternoon for a twin bill. The Eagles are coming off a 19-run, 20-hit performance against LMU Wednesday.
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 2 |
|
|
0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 0 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 2 |
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (17-9, 2-2 South Atlantic Conference) will try to keep its bats toasty when it travels to Wingate (15-12-1, 1-3 SAC) Saturday afternoon for a twin bill. The Eagles are coming off a 19-run, 20-hit performance against LMU Wednesday.
The offensive tallies were the most for the Eagles since 2008.
"I hope we pick up where we were hitting because the Bulldogs are always tough at home," Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "The fortunate thing I've noticed with our teams is that we tend to focus better when we're on the road."
The Eagles split with Wingate last year at the Lady Eagle Softball Complex. Carson-Newman won game one 8-0 in a run-rule decision, before dropping a 3-2 affair in the nightcap.
The matchup features two of the top bats in the SAC. For the Eagles it's Brittany Hefner (Talbot, Tenn.). The junior leads the league and nation in home runs (13) and RBI (56). Hefner's RBI total is the top mark in the SAC by 29 and the top in the nation by 17.
"Her swing always stays the same," Kazee-Hollifield said. "It's to her advantage to have runners on base, a lot of girls would back away from that, but she digs those cleats in and gets ready to roll when she's got a chance to score someone."
Following her RBI total is Wingate's Alexis Burrell, who's 27 RBI is good for place to Hefner's win. Burrell's eight home runs are also second on the league leaderboard to Hefner's tally.
The Bulldogs can also tout one of the better pitching staffs in the league led by Stacey Houser and her 1.24 ERA. She carries a .212 batting average against and has given up just nine extra base hits this year (six doubles, three home runs).
Carson-Newman is looking for an increased defensive presence. The Eagles are 16-2 when holding opponents to six runs or less, but are 1-7 when the opposition breaks the seven-run barrier.
"Defense is first," Kazee-Hollifield said. "We've got to make sure we're stopping ground balls. But if we do get that defense going, we can't be happy with just four innings, we've got to complete and finish games."
The Eagles have made at least two errors in four of their last five games.
First pitch for the doubleheader Saturday at Wingate is slated for 1 p.m. Live stats and video are available for the two games at wingatebulldogs.com.
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