No. 24 Carson-Newman welcomes red-hot Anderson to Mossy Creek on Saturday
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Following a scorching 17-2 start to the season in February, No. 24 Carson-Newman (22-7, 3-3) has been sputtering since the calendar flipped to March.
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 0 |
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1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | X | 7 | 8 | 1 |
VIDEO: On Press Row vs Anderson (Game 1)
VIDEO: On Press Row vs Anderson (Game 2)
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Following a scorching 17-2 start to the season in February, No. 24 Carson-Newman (22-7, 3-3) has been sputtering since the calendar flipped to March.
The Eagles are 5-5 in March, including a 3-3 mark in conference play, as they've split all three of their South Atlantic Conference doubleheaders against UVA Wise, Lincoln Memorial and Wingate on Wednesday. They'll look to find their form across the two games tomorrow as they clash with Anderson (19-5, 5-1). The Trojans have won five straight and sit in second in the SAC standings.
Head coach Michael Graves has been preaching consistency and strike zone discipline. In the first two SAC doubleheaders against UVA Wise and Lincoln Memorial, the opposition took game one before the Eagles responded resoundingly in the second game, outscoring the two 19-4.
"I liked the way we played, and that's the way we should play, but we didn't do that in game one and didn't do that in game one when we got beat the other day," Graves said. "We've got to figure out how to come out and start the day like that and keep it going for two games straight."
C-N flipped the script against Wingate, surging off the jump, taking a 4-0 lead through the first inning, en route to an 8-0 run-rule in six innings. It was the first win against the Bulldogs since 2023, snapping a six-game skid in the series. However, it was game two that brought the troubles with the Eagles stumbling into a deficit they could not overcome.
"In the first game, we were very disciplined at the plate. In between games, I said, 'that's probably our best approach at the plate that we've had all year long.' Our strike zone knowledge was great," Graves said. "Then in the second game, it was just like we were terrible. I mean, the knowledge of the strike zone was horrible. We couldn't put anything together, shooting ourselves in the foot by swinging at the bad pitches."
Senior Macauley Bailey (Cross Plains, Tenn.) stands at the top of the SAC leaderboards with a .490 batting average and 44 RBIs. The first baseman has been on a torrid streak, notching at least one RBI in the last three and eight of the last nine games. She also holds a 17-game hitting streak with an on-base streak of 49 straight games.
With a trio of RBIs, Bailey increased her career total of runs batted in to 234, passing Haley Simonds' (Newberry, 2017-21) mark of 233 RBIs for the second-most all-time in South Atlantic Conference history. The senior only trails Anderson's Kayson Boatner (2019-23), who holds 239.
Freshman pitcher Atiana Stamper (Knoxville, Tenn.) returned to her dominant form after going 0-2 in her last three starts. The right-hander tossed six innings, allowing just two hits and striking out three in her first complete-game shutout in her career. Stamper is 7-2 with a 2.08 ERA, the fifth-lowest in the SAC. Opponents are hitting .182 against her as she has tallied 67 strikeouts in 67.1 innings of work.
Fellow first-year teammate Malyiah Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.) is the fire starter at the top of the C-N order. The shortstop has started and been the leadoff hitter in every game this season. She is second in the SAC with a .461 batting average and leads the conference with 18 stolen bases.
Anderson enters this week riding the highs of a five-game winning streak after dropping game one of its SAC opener against Wingate. In that span, it has outscored its opponents 36-13, most recently sweeping Newberry on Wednesday, 11-4 in game one and 7-4 in the second half of the twinbill.
As a team, the Trojans are hitting .340, paced by Kadence Barrick, who is one of six qualified batters with an average above .300 this season. The junior is batting .391 with a team-best five home runs and is second with 26 runs batted in.
Two-way star and Preseason All-SAC Utility/Pitcher, Carson Hobbs, leads the team with 28 RBIs and is second with a .378 average. In the circle, she is 5-2 in her 13 appearances with five starts. The senior has a 3.99 ERA, with 39 strikeouts, across 47.1 innings, with opponents hitting .253 against her.
Shelby Bandt, .367, Chaney Crosby, .365, Kara Davis, .324, and Lauren Brakovec, .317, also headline a potent Trojan offense. Brakovec, like Barrick and Hobbs, has 20 RBIs on the campaign with three long balls.
Katie Morris has been one of the top arms in the SAC this season, holding opponents to a .199 average to go along with her 2.33 ERA this season. The senior has 71 strikeouts, the fifth-highest mark in the conference, and is fifth with nine wins this year.
Rounding things out on the pitching staff is Kora Kilgore. The freshman is tied with Hobbs with two saves and possesses a 3.80 ERA this season, with a 4-1 record across 11 appearances. In her 35 innings, she has struck out 52, and has held the opposition to a .250 average.
Carson-Newman is 42-22 all-time against Anderson, with the two sides splitting last year's meeting in the Palmetto State. Saturday signifies the first meeting in Jefferson City against the Trojans since April 28, 2024, a 4-1 win for AU, and just the second home contest since 2022.
Game one against Anderson is slated for 1:00 p.m., with game two to follow afterwards from the Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Softball Complex. Both games can be seen on FloSports, heard on cneagles.com/live, or watch the radio crew work in the press box on the Carson-Newman Eagle Sports Network YouTube channel.
