Another top ten test for C-N as #6/3 Catawba visits Mossy Creek
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – For the second time in three weeks, Carson-Newman (9-9, 2-7 SAC) will play host to a top ten club as it welcomes No. 6/3 Catawba (14-3, 8-1 SAC) to the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex starting tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m.
| Final (10) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 14 | 0 |
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0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 0 |
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 9 | 1 |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 9 | 0 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 1 |
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1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | X | 6 | 7 | 0 |
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – For the second time in three weeks, Carson-Newman (9-9, 2-7 SAC) will play host to a top ten club as it welcomes No. 6/3 Catawba (14-3, 8-1 SAC) to the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex starting tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m.
The Eagles won a pair of series last season against top ten teams, defeating #6 Florida Southern and #7 Lenoir-Rhyne at home. Both series wins featured wins in the series opener and finale. C-N is 2-10-4 in series' all-time versus top ten clubs. This weekend, head coach Tom Griffin's team gets their second opportunity against a ranked team in a weekend series. Two weeks ago, C-N dropped three close contests to #10/6 Lenoir-Rhyne. Under Griffin, C-N is 39-76 against ranked competition, with 25 of those wins coming in Mossy Creek.
Under head coach Tom Griffin, Carson-Newman has three wins against top three teams nationally, with its most recent one coming in 2020. One of C-N's other top three wins was against Catawba during the 2006 season, Griffin's first in Mossy Creek. The Eagles lost the series, but won the middle game of the series 10-4.
Carson-Newman has taken advantage of freebies from its opponents this season. The Eagles have drawn 102 walks, the third-most in the league and 23rd-best nationally. They have been hit by 35 pitches, the second-most in the SAC and 30th-best nationally.
After going hitless in his C-N debut, Bradley Soto Diaz (Davenport, Fla.) has hit safely in 15 straight games. During this stretch, he has five multi-hit and four multi-RBI days. His .426 batting average is second-best on the team and sixth-best in the South Atlantic Conference.
These two clubs have met 119 times, with Catawba holding a 72-47 advantage. This weekend's series will be just Catawba's second trip to Jefferson City since 2019. Carson-Newman's last series win over Catawba was 2015, winning the first two games in a low-scoring series that featured just a combined 19 runs in three games.
Two-time reigning league champion Catawba was picked to win the South Atlantic Conference, earning seven of a possible 11 first-place votes in the SAC's preseason poll. The Indians have lived up to that expectation so far this season and enter the first series of March with a 14-3 record and an 8-1 mark in league games. Catawba will put an impressive streak on the line again this weekend. It has won 22 consecutive series in South Atlantic Conference play. Catawba's last series loss in SAC play came to Wingate in late March of 2023.
The Indians are ranked sixth in the latest ABCA poll and third in the NCBWA poll. They have collected three ranked wins. After conference sweeps over Tusculum and Mars Hill, the Indians began the year 11-1. Their first setbacks came just last week. Suffering a midweek loss to Mount Olive and dropping the series opener to #10 Lenoir-Rhyne. Catawba responded to the mini skid well, sweeping the Bears in a doubleheader last weekend and then scoring 23 runs in a win over Barton. In the win over Barton on Tuesday, Catawba hit a program record three grand slams.
Offensively, Catawba averages just under six runs per game. Gaston College transfer Brandon Crabtree leads the SAC with his .507 batting average. Four other hitters are hitting above .300 this season. Matthew Connolly is the team's home run and RBI leader despite just a .242 average.
Catawba's pitching staff has been the main reason for its great success this season. The staff's 3.22 earned run average leads the SAC and is eighth-best nationally. Their four starting pitchers with at least three starts each have a sub four era. Casey Gouge's 2.33 mark leads the way. Colt Wilkins leads the team in strikeouts with 31.
First pitch in the series opener on Friday is set for 2:00 p.m. A live stream of the game is available with a subscription to FloSports at cneagles.com/flobase. 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.
