VIDEO: Carson-Newman vs Anderson Game One Apr 2024 Highlights
VIDEO: Carson-Newman vs Anderson Game Two Apr 2024 Highlights
VIDEO: Carson-Newman vs Anderson Game Three Apr 2024 Highlights
C-N Game Notes (PDF)
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – No. 21/11 Carson-Newman (20-6, 10-2 SAC) takes its four-game winning streak on the road as it visits Anderson (17-10, 6-6 SAC) for a three-game South Atlantic Conference series starting on Friday at 4:00 p.m.
Carson-Newman is off to its best conference start since 2021 with a 10-2 league record through four series. Head coach Tom Griffin’s team is coming off a road conference sweep of Limestone last weekend, the program’s first road conference sweep in six seasons. Those wins improved C-N’s road record to 6-3 on the year.
The strong start to league play has C-N in first-place by a full game over second-place and top ten ranked Lenoir-Rhyne. With one more series under its belt, Catawba is the only SAC school with more wins (11) than C-N.
When Carson-Newman scores first, it is 16-0 this season. In 2024, the Eagles won just 10 games when scoring first.
Offensively, Carson-Newman is hitting .308 as a club, the third-highest batting average in the SAC and has seven guys hitting above that mark for the year. Out of mainly the nine slot in the batting order, Trey Miller has been the team’s top hitter with a .417 batting average. Logan Floyd and Tanner Kilgore have been super valuable as well, both hitting above .300 and each are tied for the team lead with 25 RBI in their sophomore seasons.
Carson-Newman’s pitching staff has a 3.84 earned run average this season, the lowest in the South Atlantic Conference and 16th best nationally. Seven pitchers have at least seven appearances and an ERA that is 3.1 or lower for the season. The Eagles have two shutouts this season and have held their opponent to three runs or less in half of their games this season.
In conference games this season, C-N’s batting average has stayed the same while it’s pitching numbers have only improved. Seven different pitchers have ERA’s below two in SAC games. As a team, C-N has held its conference opposition to three runs or less in four straight games and has done so in nine of its 12 SAC games this season.
The Eagles have a 36-12 advantage in the all-time series with Anderson. C-N swept the Trojans in a conference series in Mossy Creek this past season. Six of the past seven meetings have been Carson-Newman wins.
Picked to finish ninth in the South Atlantic Conference’s preseason coaches poll, Anderson is 6-6 in league games this season, tied for seventh place in the conference standings. The conference slate has featured ups and downs for AU. The Trojans got swept by Catawba in their first conference series but have responded well, going 6-3 over its last three conference series highlighted by a sweep of Mars Hill to end February.
In non-conference games, Anderson is 11-4 to total a 17-10 overall record in 2025. The .630 overall winning percentage is the sixth-best in the SAC this season. The Trojans enter this weekend’s conference series having won three of their last four games, including a series win over Tusculum last weekend.
Anderson has been one of the most potent offensive attacks in the South Atlantic Conference this season. The Trojans scored more than eight runs per game and are hitting .314 at the plate, both marks which are second in the league. Extra base hits has been the key for PJ Zocchi’s offense. Their 69 doubles are first in the league and fourth nationally, while their 13 triples are third-most in DII. Braeden Harrison has a team-high 15 doubles, the second-most in DII. Zach Stover has the sixth-most triples nationally with four this season. Those two and sixth other AU hitters have a batting average above .300 this season.
On the pitching side, Anderson ranks eighth with a 5.57 earned-run average. No AU pitcher has a sub 3 ERA, but five have ERA’s below 4, including two pitchers with multiple starts this year. Walker Noland is AU’s ace with a 5-1 record over seven starts. He has 41 strikeouts in 37.2 innings of work with a 3.58 ERA. The conference’s pitcher of the week at the beginning of the month has four quality starts this year.
First pitch for Friday’s series opener is set for 4:00 p.m. The games will air with a free audio stream available courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network on cneagles.com/live