Eagles Tabbed Fourth in SAC Preseason Poll
ROCK HILL, S.C. – For the second consecutive season, the Carson-Newman softball program has been picked to finish fourth in the South Atlantic Conference’s preseason poll, the league office announced Wednesday morning.
VIDEO: Michael Graves Interview
ROCK HILL, S.C. – For the second consecutive season, the Carson-Newman softball program has been picked to finish fourth in the South Atlantic Conference's preseason poll, the league office announced Wednesday morning.
The Eagles, who posted a 32-18 record with a 16-6 mark in SAC play to finish third in the conference a season ago, received one first-place vote and sit just two points behind third-place Anderson.
"The top four has pretty much been the same for a few years now," head coach Michael Graves said. "We seem to always slide into that fourth spot… Those top four are pretty good in the conference, and hopefully the bottom part of the conference gets back to where they were a couple of years ago."
The Eagles received 118 points, sitting right behind Anderson and 12 points behind second-place Lenoir-Rhyne. Wingate was selected to win the conference with 138 points and six first-place votes. C-N visits all three of the teams selected to finish ahead of them throughout the season.
"This is our tough year for playing teams away," Graves said. "We have Wingate, Anderson, and L-R all away… You've got to go over there and you've got to get wins. You've got to find a way to compete and find ways to make it happen. You get wins against them and then do what you should do against the rest of the conference, then you end up winning it."
There is a 24-point gap between C-N and fifth-place Lincoln Memorial, who comes in with 94 points. Six points separate Tusculum in sixth and Newberry in seventh. Catawba places eighth with 65 points, Limestone in ninth with 56, and Emory & Henry in tenth with 42.
Coker, UVA Wise, and Mars Hill round out the SAC preseason poll.
Carson-Newman kicks off its 2025 campaign at The Vick on Jan. 31 for the Eagle Invitational, where it will square off with Kentucky State and Converse starting at 10:45 a.m. The games will be broadcast on the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live and on FloSports ($).
2024 Softball Preseason Poll
Rank School (First Place Votes) Score
1 Wingate (6) 138
2 Lenoir-Rhyne (6) 130
3 Anderson 120
4 Carson-Newman (1) 118
5 Lincoln Memorial 94
6 Tusculum 88
7 Newberry 82
8 Catawba 65
9 Limestone 56
10 Emory & Henry 42
11 Coker 38
12 UVA Wise 22
13 Mars Hill 21
