No. 24 Carson-Newman closes six-game road stand against skidding Cobras
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – A six-game road swing concludes on Saturday in Hartsville, South Carolina, when No. 24 Carson-Newman (33-8, 12-4 SAC) tangles with Coker (10-24, 2-14 SAC).
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
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0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 2 |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
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VIDEO: In The Booth at Coker (Game 1)
VIDEO: In The Booth at Coker (Game 2)
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – A six-game road swing concludes on Saturday in Hartsville, South Carolina, when No. 24 Carson-Newman (33-8, 12-4 SAC) tangles with Coker (10-24, 2-14 SAC).
The Eagles are 4-0 on this road trip after blitzing Catawba on Thursday with a pair of run-rule victories. The Eagles took an early lead in game one and sailed smoothly to the win, 12-2, before responding to Catawba's comeback bid with an emphatic eight-run third, carrying them to a 15-5 decision in the second half of the twin bill.
"Real good team that we just played, they've got some good wins, they've played a lot of good teams close. We were expecting to come in here and get a dogfight, but we jumped on them early in both games, and that took the wind out of them. I'm proud of the way they kept on it," head coach Michael Graves said. "After the first game, we took like the last two innings off, offensively, defensively and pitching. We had a little talk in between games, and I said, 'we got to put a complete game together,' so I think we did that in game two."
Carson-Newman outscored Catawba 27-7 across the two games, tallying 31 total hits. The 15 runs in game two are the most in a single game this season.
The Eagles have rattled off 11 consecutive wins, their longest winning streak since 2022, when they won 11 in a row. They've also won nine straight in SAC play and have swept the last four doubleheaders, after splitting the first four. The 33 wins this season are the most in a year since 2018, when the team totaled 33.
Everyone in the order had the offense grooving in Salisbury, but it is hard to ignore the boost that Addie Saunders (Radford, Va.) and Grace Gregory (White House, Tenn.) have provided. The duo has been sizzling in the heart of the order.
Saunders is second on the team and third in the SAC with a .440 average and after a 4-RBI day at Catawba, she pushed her season total to 23. The sophomore is amid a nine-game hitting streak and has reached base safely in her last 15 games. In that span, she is 26-for-48 (.541) with six extra-base hits and 10 RBI.
As for Gregory, she continues to climb the offensive leaderboards after launching her ninth home run of the year at Catawba; she leads C-N and is tied for fourth in the SAC. Her 43 RBIs is second on the team and third in the conference. Over the last 10 games, the senior is 19-for-33 (.575) with five home runs and 20 RBIs.
Fellow senior Macauley Bailey (Cross Plains, Tenn.) snapped a four-game streak without an RBI, six straight in SAC play, on Thursday. Bailey leads the SAC with a .471 average and 53 runs batted in. The SAC's all-time RBI leader launched her sixth home run of the year with a solo blast in game two.
At Catawba, Saunders was 5-for-8 at the dish, notching four RBIs and a double, while Gregory was 5-for-7 and drove in six runs, Bailey rounded out the trio with a 4-for-8 day and a trio of RBIs.
The entire offense for Carson-Newman is batting .375, which is currently the highest single-season mark in program history. It leads the South Atlantic Conference and is in the top 10 nationally.
In the circle, Atiana Stamper (Knoxville, Tenn.) continues to be the feature piece for pitching coach Holly Tucker-Vance. At Catawba, Stamper pitched in both games of the twin bill for the second straight series. Overall, the freshman is 12-3, tied for fourth in the SAC in wins, with a 1.87 ERA, third lowest in the SAC, and 96 strikeouts, tied for fourth in the conference.
Meanwhile, the hosting Cobras are moving in the polar opposite direction. Coker has dropped its last 13 games, with its last win coming on March 18th, a 4-2 win over Lincoln Memorial, and enters Saturday's meeting last in the SAC.
Last time out, UVA Wise toppled the Cobras with an 8-0 run-rule in game one, before taking game two 6-3 on Tuesday.
Bailee Gaskins and Emily Rose are the top two hitters for Brittany Bennett's team. Gaskins holds a team-high .371 average, with two home runs and eight RBIs. Meanwhile, Rose is batting .329, with a trio of home runs and is tied for the team-high with 14 RBIs. Payton Brigman has a team-best four home runs, with 14 RBIs.
As a staff, Coker holds a 5.07 ERA with Abbie McCants making the most appearances with 20. The junior 2-4 with a 4.73 ERA, the lowest on the team. She has gone 47.1 innings with 27 strikeouts to 20 walks.
Carson-Newman and Coker meet for the 38th and 39th time in a series that dates back to 1992. The Eagles lead all-time with a 24-13 record. The Eagles took both meetings last season, 14-0 in game one, the largest margin of victory in the series, and 9-5 in the second contest. C-N has won the last 11 duals with Coker, as the Cobras' last win came in 2019.
Game one from Hartsville, South Carolina, is slated for 11:00 a.m. from Saleeby-Stokes Softball Field. Fans can watch the game on FloSports with a subscription, listen to it on cneagles.com/live or watch the In The Booth feed on the Carson-Newman Eagle Sports Network YouTube channel.
