Lady Eagles set for Saturday twin bill with WVIAC’s Concord Mountain Lions

Carson-Newman (10-2) concludes its twelve-game home stand with a Saturday doubleheader with the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s Concord Mountain Lions (5-6). First pitch for game one is slated for 1:30 p.m.

Both teams are raking the ball through the first three weeks of the season. The Mountain Lions collectively hit .350 as a team while C-N has a .407 team batting average.

“They hit the ball extremely well one through nine,” Carson-Newman head coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said of Concord. “We’ll have to pitch the ball extremely well and score a lot of runs to boot.”

Freshmen Kaitie Sims (Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.) and Cassie Lyons (Knoxville, Tenn.) have taken the reigns from C-N workhorse pitcher Mary Shealey, who led the SAC in appearances in her senior season. Sims has surrendered 11 earned runs in her six appearances (she’s 6-0) and gives a .194 batting average against.

Lyons picked up her first win in three starts Wednesday against Lees-McRae to move her record to 4-2. She’s gone a complete game in four of her six appearances this year and is responsible for a trio of shutouts.

The Eagles will look to continue a small-ball strategy that paid dividends against Lees-McRae. Braleigh Angel (Hixson, Tenn.) is second in the SAC in stolen bases with seven.

“Batters one and two have got to get on” Kazee-Hollifield said. “When we’re playing small ball, we’ve got to get those runners on to execute our strategy.”

Those runners have set the table quite nicely for Brittany Hefner (Talbot, Tenn.). The junior leads the SAC in RBI with 27 – nearly double the next closest player. Of her 21 hits, 16 have been for extra bases.

“We knew Brittany would be an effective hitter for us,” Kazee-Hollfield said. “She’s known for her bat, but we’re working on the defensive end as well. But batters three and five have to be there for her as well and they have been.”

The Eagles and Concord start swinging at 1:30 p.m. Coverage is available on the Coca-Cola Eagle Sports Network on cneagles.com. Sunday’s road contest with Coker has been postponed. A makeup date is to be determined.