VIDEO: 2022 C-N vs UAH Highlights
C-N Game Notes (PDF)
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – No. 16/9 Carson-Newman (26-8) begins the final month of the regular season on the road as it visits Alabama Huntsville (14-18) tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m.
C-N gets another opportunity to reach the double-digit win total on the road, something that has only been accomplished once in the past six seasons. Under head coach Tom Griffin, C-N has won double-digit road games 12 times and has posted a winning record on the road 11 times. The Eagles are 9-4 on the road this season and have won six of their past seven road affairs.
In non-conference games this season, Carson-Newman is 11-5 but has won just one of its four road non-conference games. The only road win out of league play was an 18-2 victory at Shorter back on Feb 4. The Eagles are hitting .311 in 16 non-conference games and score nearly eight runs per game. Eight batters are hitting above .300 with Tanner Kilgore leading the way with 19 RBI in non-conference games.
Carson-Newman pitching has held opposing offenses to two runs or less 16 times this season. Over the past two seasons combined, C-N only did that 15 times. It’s the second-most occurrences of holding an opponent to two runs or less in the Tom Griffin era. During the 2008 season, Carson-Newman baseball’s winning season in DII, C-N held opponents to two runs or less 22 times throughout that season that featured a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
When Carson-Newman scores first, it is 19-0 this season. In 2024, the Eagles won just 10 games when scoring first.
The Eagles lead the all-time series 4-3 with the Chargers with all four wins being consecutive wins in the series. The two sides meet for the first time since March 30th, 2022, a game in which the Eagles won 12-8 in Mossy Creek. Six of the seven all-time meetings have been at Charger Park for a series that began back in 2012. Five of the seven matchups have been decided by four runs or less.
Picked to finish eighth in the Gulf South Conference, Alabama Huntsville has posted a 14-18 overall record this season and has a 7-14 record in its league games. UAH enters this midweek matchup having lost five straight games, getting swept by the top team in GSC, Delta State over the weekend.
The Chargers got into an early groove this season. After dropping three of its first four games, they responded with five straight wins and were 7-4 halfway through February. The winning streak was followed by a seven-game losing streak to end February and start March. The streak ended versus Montevallo that helped start a three-game winning streak which included a 24-run effort against the Falcons. Prior to this current losing streak, UAH had won four straight contests.
JC Wilburn leads a UAH offense that scores seven runs per game, the fourth-most in the GSC. The outfielder hits a team-high .405 at the plate with five home runs and 25 RBI. Brock Butler has a team-high 10 home runs and 38 RBI, hitting three home runs over the weekend. Butler has four games with 5 RBI this year. The Chargers have placed down 20 sacrifice bunts this season, top 20 nationally led by Hugh Windle’s six.
Despite posting the ninth-highest earned run average in the GSC, UAH’s pitching staff has been one of the best in the country in striking hitters out this season. The staff averages 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings, 23rd best in DII, while also posting a 2.32 strikeout to walk ratio, top 30 nationally as well. Colin Patterson’s 50 strikeouts leads UAH in his 45.2 innings. Six other UAH arms have at least 20 strikeouts as well this season.
First pitch from Charger Park is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. The game will air with a free audio stream available courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network on cneagles.com/live.