Wednesday,
April 22, 2003
CARSON-NEWMAN CAPTURES SECOND STRAIGHT REGULAR SEASON BASEBALL TITLE;
PAIRINGS ANNOUNCED FOR FOOD LION SAC BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
Blue Hose #3 seed and will open upcoming tourney against
#6 seed Newberry
ROCK HILL, SC – The Carson-Newman Eagles won a tight race for the
2003 South Atlantic Conference regular season baseball title,
defending the crown they won last year and earning the top
seed for the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball
Tournament.
The
Eagles, under first-year coach Brent Achord, won two out of
three games against Catawba on the final day of the regular
season on Saturday to finish with a 13-7 conference record and
a half-game lead over Wingate (13-8). Presbyterian finished
one game behind at 12-8. Carson-Newman earned the top seed for
the conference tournament and will face Mars Hill at 8:15 pm
in opening round action on Thursday. First baseman Ricky
Luttrell, a two-time SAC Player of the Week, and pitcher Ryan
West, who leads the league in strikeouts per game.
Third-seed
Presbyterian will play sixth-seed Newberry at 12:45 pm. The
Blue Hose are led at the plate by outfielder Kevin White, who
is hitting .401; while pitcher Richard Barkley has the best
ERA in the league at 1.86.
Wingate,
the second seed, will face Lenoir-Rhyne College at 4:30 pm.
The Bulldogs are led by catcher John Spencer, who has a
conference-best 75 hits, and shortstop David Yount.
The
tournament’s opening game will feature fourth-seed Tusculum
against fifth-seed Catawba. The Pioneers (11-8) are led by
slugger Guy O’Connell, who leads the conference in batting
average and home runs, and is ranked among the national
leaders homers. Catawba is the defending champion of the Food
Lion SAC Tournament. The Indians’ Zach Snyder is one of the
conference’s top pitchers.
Loser
bracket games will be played Friday at Newberry High School,
while winner bracket games will be played at Newberry College.
Games will continue Friday evening and Saturday at Newberry
College. The championship game is set for 1 pm Sunday, with a
second game, if necessary, at 4 pm.
Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament at Newberry SC
Thursday, April 24
Game
1: No. 4 Tusculum vs. No. 5 Catawba, 9 am
Game 2: No. 3 Presbyterian vs. No. 6 Newberry, 12:45 pm
Game 3: No. 2 Wingate vs. No. 7 Lenoir-Rhyne, 4:30 pm
Game 4: No. 1 Carson-Newman vs. No. 8 Mars Hill, 8:15
pm
Friday, April 25
Game
5: Presbyterian/Newberry loser vs. Wingate/Lenoir-Rhyne
loser, 9 am (at Newberry HS)
Game 7: Presbyterian/Newberry winner vs.
Wingate/Lenoir-Rhyne winner, 9 am
Game 6: Tusculum/Catawba loser vs. Carson-Newman/Mars
Hill loser, 12:45 pm (at Newberry HS)
Game 8: Tusculum/Catawba winner vs. Carson-Newman/Mars
Hill winner, 12:45 pm
Game 9: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 loser, 5 pm
Game 10: Game 5 winner vs. Game 8 loser, 8:30 pm
Saturday, April 26
Game
12: Game 10 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 10 am
Game 11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 2 pm
Game 13: Game 12 winner vs. Game 11 loser, 6 pm
Sunday, April 27
Championship
game, 1 pm
Championship game (if necessary), 4 pm