GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University baseball team will take on a pair of longtime in-state rivals when they face Carson-Newman and Lincoln Memorial this week.
TU and Carson-Newman will square off on Wednesday afternoon at 2 p.m. at the Silver Diamond Complex in Jefferson City for a mid-week non-conference game. Tusculum will then return home to host LMU for a three-game South Atlantic Conference series at Pioneer Park. The series opener will be on Friday night at 6 p.m., followed by a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday.
Tusculum and Carson-Newman will meet for a three-game SAC series in Greeneville next month at Pioneer Park.
Following a four-game winning streak which included a 3-0 sweep over nationally-ranked Molloy College, Tusculum has lost four in a row including a three-game weekend series at Queens in the SAC opener.
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Tusculum (7-7, 0-3 SAC) is led at the plate by sophomore outfielder Zane Keener who is batting .360 with 18 hits, including three doubles, one triple, three home runs and 16 RBI. Will Samuelson is second with his .320 average while outfielders Kyle Williams and West Reynolds are both batting .275.
First baseman Luis Ezra leads the team with five doubles and is second with his seven RBI. He is batting .269 in his 14 starts where he has scored a team-best 14 runs.
Graduate student Harbor Jefferson leads the pitching staff where he has a 3-1 record with a 2.82 earned run average in his four starts. He has recorded 18 strikeouts against just one walk in his 22.1 innings pitched this season.
Gunner Becker is 1-2 in his four starts with a 4.50 ERA while tallying 17 strikeouts in his 16 innings on the mound.
Reliever Justin Parker has appeared in six games with a 1-1 record, one save, and a 2.63 ERA. Drew Sliwinski is also 1-1 with a 3.09 ERA while making four appearances with one start.
The Pioneers are batting .256 as a team while also posting a 5.28 team ERA.
SCOUTING CARSON-NEWMAN
Like Tusculum, the Carson-Newman Eagles are coming off being swept in its SAC opening series as C-N dropped three to defending NCAA Division II national champion Wingate in Jefferson City.
The Eagles (10-6, 0-3 SAC) opened the season winning their first four games including a three-game weekend sweep at Alabama Huntsville. C-N also has wins this year including twice against West Alabama and two times with Charleston (W.Va.). Last Wednesday, the Eagles posted a 16-12 mid-week victory over UVA Wise.
Senior outfielder Jordan Griffin leads the Eagles batting a SAC-best .585 with 21 runs scored, 31 hits including five doubles and two home runs and 18 RBI. He enters this week riding an 11-game hitting streak and already has a pair of four-hit performances including last Wednesday against UVA Wise.
Henry Jackson and Micah Genter are both batting .375, Andrew Carpenter is hitting .366. and Ryan Potts owns a .353 average.
The Eagles' .321 team batting average is second-best in the conference and have accumulated 174 hits (2nd in SAC) including a league-leading 38 doubles (7th in NCAA II). Carson-Newman's get-them-on and get-them-over philosophy continues as the Eagles lead the nation with 25 sacrifice bunts and are eighth in the country with their 133 runs scored (4th in SAC). C-N is also the league-leader with 16 hit batsmen (12th in NCAA II).
The Eagles have a 5.21 team earned run average (8th in SAC) led by All-American right-hander Brayden Coe who is 2-1 this year with a 6.86 ERA in his four appearances. He is 10-4 in his career at Carson-Newman including last year's sensational 7-0 mark which included four complete games.
SCOUTING LINCOLN MEMORIAL
Lincoln Memorial enters the week 7-7 overall as this will be the Railsplitters first conference games of 2022.
After opening the year 1-2, LMU responded with six straight victories including a three-game sweep over Kentucky Wesleyan, a mid-week victory over Kentucky State and took two-of three from Cedarville. The Railsplitters have lost five in a row including a three-game sweep at Lander last weekend.
Carson Boles leads LMU with his .360 batting average which includes 18 hits and 10 RBI. Ryan Kurth is hitting .320 including five doubles, three home runs and 11 RBI. Sam Mast is hitting .313, while Kasten Harvey has a .300 batting average.
Slated to get the starts this weekend for the Splitters are the trio of Alex Brewer (1-3, 4.50 ERA), Patrick Queener (2-2, 4.50 ERA) and Bryce Woody (1-1, 7.97 ERA).
Lincoln Memorial is hitting .277 as a team while posting a team ERA of 5.00
SERIES HISTORY
Carson-Newman: Wednesday will be the 196th recording meeting between Tusculum and Carson-Newman where the Eagles own a 115-79-1 advantage in a series which began in 1904.
Lincoln Memorial: Tusculum and LMU have square off on the collegiate diamond 164 times with the Railsplitters leading the series 90-74 with the first meeting taking place in 2016.
FOLLOW THE GAMES
Live statistics will be provided for all four games this week at www.TusculumStats.com and also on www.TusculumPioneers.com. There will be a video stream for all four games available on the SAC Digital Network as well as the Tusculum web site.
TICKETS
Admission for Tusculum home baseball games is $5 for all entrants and children 12 and under will be admitted free. Tusculum students and faculty & staff will be admitted free and a valid Tusculum ID is required. Fans may also purchase tickets online in advance through HomeTown Ticketing at www.TusculumPioneers.com/information/tickets.
Spectators using HomeTown Ticketing can choose to print tickets at home or use mobile entry tickets at the gate. NO CASH PAYMENTS for game tickets will be allowed at the stadium.
